© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated
River Seine should not have been used
The usage of the River Seine was a mistake. It should never have been used. Two triathletes have been hospitalized after the competition due to apparent e-coli. After a series of scheduled practice swims were cancelled and the competitions delayed, the triathlons went ahead. Now a marathon swim practice has been cancelled.
The river has been unsafe for over 100 years. Swimming or bathing in the Seine has been banned since 1923 when the river was deemed unsafe.
🇫🇷 PARIS RIVER MAKING ATHLETES SICK – OLYMPIANS WITHDRAW
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 4, 2024
Belgium has pulled out of the mixed relay triathlon after Claire Michel fell ill following a swim in the River Seine at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Switzerland also faces issues, with Adrien Briffod withdrawing due to a… pic.twitter.com/C4AWc1kYru
Belgium’s team has withdrawn from the mixed relays race as it does not have a replacement for Claire Michel, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday. Swiss triathlete Adrien Briffod has fallen seriously ill following the men’s individual event.
The Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee released a statement saying: “The BOIC and Belgian Triathlon hope that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions.
France allegedly spent $1 billion USD to clean up the Seine. While this is commendable, heavy rains can make the river susceptible to pollution entering the water.
There are many freshwater locations for the Olympic distance triathlon used by the European Triathlon and the World Triathlon in France, Spain, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Germany and Ireland to name a few. While Olympic surfing is happening 16,000 kilometres away in Tahiti, somehow, someone did not come up with the smart and safe idea of a backup plan, like an alternate site.
German sprinter sent home for whining
Luna Bulmahn, 24, was not selected for the 4x400m mixed relay, which took place last week. She has been sent home from the Games after publicly complaining about team selection.
Bulmahn, or Luna Thiel, as she is also known, reacted negatively to her omission from the team. The team included her partner Jean Paul Bredau.
“Yes, I am the second fastest 400-metre athlete on paper,” Bulmahn wrote on Instagram.
“No, I was not nominated for the mixed relay.”
Bulmahn’s place in the team was instead taken by Alica Schmidt. However, Schmidt had an off day and the German team did not qualify for the finals. Apparently, there were disagreements before the selection according to Schmidt.
Kenenisa Bekele co-authored a paper
Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele co-authored a paper detailing how today’s athletes and specifically Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, who broke his 5000m and 10,000m world records are aided. Bekele and company reference advancing shoe technology, human pacers, and Wavelight technology to suggest that new records should have an asterisk beside them.
Athletics Illustrated agrees that running records based on time should have an explanation from the era. For example, today’s super shoe technology is more advanced that super shoe technology from five years ago. Record performances from five years ago therefore were not achieved with the same level of assistance as they are now and may be in the future.
In a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, Bekele teamed up with two scientists, Borja Muniz-Pardos and Yannis Pitsiladis, and an elite Spanish runner named Carlos Mayo, to author a peer-reviewed editorial titled “Technological Advances in Elite Sport: Where Does One Draw the Line?” Bekele and his co-authors delve into the debate about technology and fairness that has been simmering ever since Nike’s carbon-plate-equipped Vaporfly running shoes helped Kipchoge collect his first Olympic title in 2016, and raise new concerns about the recent introduction of automated pacing lights along the inside rail of the track that help runners lock into a metronomically even pace–which, as it happens, Cheptegei used to break Bekele’s world records.
Keely Hodgkinson may earn millions
Olympic 800-metre champion Keely Hodgkinson may earn over ÂŁ4 million as the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
The 22-year-old finally earned gold after several silver-medal performances. Hodgkinson became the first woman since Dame Kelly Holmes in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games to take the title.