Belgium out of triathlon relay after athlete falls ill

Belgium has withdrawn from the Olympic mixed relay triathlon at Paris 2024 due to the illness of one of their athletes.

Claire Michel participated in the women's triathlon on Wednesday and finished in 38th place.

According to De Standaard, a major Belgian newspaper, the 35-year-old athlete has reportedly contracted E coli, although this information has not been confirmed by BBC Sport.

The poor water quality of the Seine River was a significant concern before and during the Paris 2024 Olympics. This issue led to the men's triathlon being postponed by a day, and the practice swim for the mixed relay was rescheduled twice on Sunday.

Despite requests from teams to delay the competition for more athlete preparation time, the mixed relay race began as scheduled on Monday morning.