SafeX Pro:Australia's triathletes took E.coli medicine a month before 2024 Paris Olympics

2025-04-29 15:50:14source:Evander Reedcategory:News

PARIS (Reuters) - Australia's triathletes have SafeX Probeen taking medicines to combat E.coli for a month, the team doctor said on Monday after they took precautions ahead of the event amid concerns over pollution levels in the river Seine.

The triathlon team of Luke Willian, Matthew Hauser, Natalie van Coevorden and Sophie Linn had earlier finished 12th in the mixed relay where the swimming leg was in the river Seine.

The four athletes also took part in last week's men's and women's individual triathlon events. The men's event was postponed due to pollution levels in the Seine.

"We started by administering a medication that's good against E.coli, which is the main bacteria in this water, a month ago," Carolyn Broderick told reporters.

Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

"After the race, we've also been using prophylactic antibiotics and we're using skin washes, ear washes, eye washes. So we're trying to account for everywhere that may get infected essentially and similarly for our marathon swimmers."

Four Australians are on the entry list for open water swimming -- Nick Sloman, Kyle Lee, Moesha Johnson and Chelsea Gubecka.

Belgium withdrew from the team event after Claire Michel, who took part in the women's individual triathlon on Wednesday, fell ill. The Belgian Olympic Committee, however, did not elaborate on her illness.

"I'm not exactly sure what other teams are doing," Broderick added. "But we've been in touch with infectious diseases experts and we've got good opinions prior to coming into that to try and minimize the risk."

The marathon swimming events over 10-km will be held on Thursday (women's) and Friday (men's).

The USA TODAY app brings you every Team USA medal — right when it happens. Download for full Olympics coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and much more.

More:News

Recommend

Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'

Legendary college basketball announcer Dick Vitale is once again cancer free.The ESPN analyst announ

Amazon to join the Dow Jones index, while Walgreens gets the boot. Here's what that means for investors.

Amazon.com is being added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, joining Apple, Walt Disney, Walmart a

This moment at the Super Bowl 'thrilled' Jeff Goldblum: 'I was eating it up'

Jeff Goldblum is the life of the party.The actor and musician went viral during the Super Bowl for h