Stars from the British triathlon team are already eating more yogurt and taking probiotics to prepare for pollution in the Seine during the Paris Olympics, it has been revealed.
British triathletes have also been told that they should not touch recovery drinks or food after training in the water unless they are “sanitized for life” to avoid gastrointestinal problems.
A week ago, Paris 2024 chairman Tony Estanguet acknowledged the prospect of heavy rain, providing a rare insight into Team GB’s Olympic plans. Second E. coli The water level of the Seine was one of his “biggest challenges.”
However, British Triathlon has detailed plans in place 100 days before the race as they try to secure a win for women’s world champion Beth Potter and Tokyo 2020 gold and silver medalist Alex Alex Yee’s team has the best chance of challenging for medals in the women’s, men’s and mixed relay categories.
Mike Cavendish, British Triathlon’s performance director, said that while other countries were considering using drugs to protect athletes, the UK’s main focus was on using foods rich in “friendly bacteria” and probiotics.
“The use of probiotics is a big thing and the key is to allow your gut to really effectively deal with any contamination that comes in,” he said, before confirming that probiotics will come in the form of whole foods, such as yogurt and yogurt. . Phil, and tablets. “There’s also a lot of carbs in them, and frankly part of that is because they absorb a lot of junk. But long gone are the days of just drinking a can of Coke and thinking it’s going to work.
Photograph: Sam Mellish/Getty Images
As part of Team GB’s preparations, athletes’ wetsuits will also be scrubbed down with Hibiscrub disinfectant after each training session in Paris.
“One of the biggest ways to get sick is not necessarily from what you drink in the water and swallow,” Cavendish said. “When you go out and touch your mouth and eyes with your hands. So we immediately scrub them with Hibiscrub, That’s basically what they use in the operating room. If they’re wearing a wetsuit, we’ll also take them back to our hotel and they’ll be thoroughly sterilized.
“They are not allowed near any recovery items or food until we have completely and completely sanitized their lives.”
At the Paris test last year, due to poor water quality in the Seine River, the mixed relay had to be changed to a triathlon format and the swimming stage was abandoned. However Cavendish said he believed improvements to the sewage system would allow the triathlon to be held this summer.
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“Climate change makes it very difficult to predict the weather,” he admits. “But my understanding is that unless we get quite a lot of rain over a long period of time, the swimming leg is going to be fine.”
“And we don’t want a triathlon. We want it to be an iconic triathlon. We want to promote the sport in its most complete form. When you stand on the bridge and look at the Eiffel Tower, you see something A fantastic sight, especially in the morning as the sun rises. Whatever happens, we will be ready.
Cavendish also praised French organizers for spending huge sums of money trying to make the first swim in the Seine possible in a century and doing everything possible to ensure the safety of athletes.
“The idea of bringing water quality into the spotlight is laudable and I really don’t think they could have done more,” he said. “The water quality data they had was really significant – in the 750m area where we did the triathlon, they got 15 different sets of pollution readings in about 30 minutes.”
