Kazakh triathlete fell ill after swimming in the Seine at the Olympics

Tengrinews.kz - Kazakhstan's national triathlon team leader, Ekaterina Shabalina, was unable to complete her start at the Paris Olympics due to health issues stemming from an incident in the Seine River.

For the Kazakhstani triathlete, the Paris Games were the first in her career, but already at the beginning of the second stage Shabalina had to withdraw from the competition. Later the athlete told about the reasons for the early finish.

"Triathlon is a contact sport, it's quite hard for the judges to track a 'fight' in the swimming phase. Even though it's forbidden. After getting hit on the head a few times, I choked on water from the Seine, after which I started throwing up for the rest of the swim. And I threw up after the first lap of the cycling stage," she said.

According to Shabalina, she sought medical attention after finishing the race and was prescribed medication.

Recently, water tests from the Seine River indicated that swimming in it could be hazardous to athletes' health.