Olympics 2024: Kiwi triathletes raced with E. coli-like sickness

Two New Zealand triathletes struggled with E. coli-like sickness leading into the Paris Olympics mixed team relay last night, including silver medallist Hayden Wilde.

The New Zealand team finished 14th in the event in Paris last night, won by Germany over the US and Great Britain.

Wilde, who won silver in the men’s individual race, confirmed to TVNZ that he was struggling with E. coli-like sickness, possibly picked up from swimming in the Seine River. The Belgian team had to withdraw from the event after female competitor Claire Michel caught E. coli after competing in the women’s event.

“There was a bit of sickness within the team 48 hours after the race,” Wilde told TVNZ.

“[After] 24 hours it cleared up pretty quick, I was just lucky that I only had some E. coli-potential sickness for 24 hours.

Tri New Zealand confirmed teammate Ashley Thorpe was ill before last night’s race, but wasn’t able to confirm if it was E. coli.

“I was very close to not racing today,” Thorpe said at a team farewell at New Zealand House on the Champs-Elysees today.

“If it had been a day earlier, I definitely would not have made the start line. I was actually hoping it would be postponed today with the water quality but I didn’t get that extra day.

“Yeah, I was bed-ridden for a day and then tried to get the body moving pre-race day, and it felt so much better today. I did everything I could to get my body back to normal, had the nutritionist help me out, and, yeah, good medical team around me to get back feeling 100%.”

Wilde did well to chase down the lead pack on the bike following a poor swim, getting to the front before crashing on the final turn before transition.

“I was coming around the corner and one of the other athletes went on the inside and took a bit of a dive, and I had to recorrect my stance coming into the corner. And, yeah, just lost the front wheel,” Wilde said.

“I haven’t come down for probably six years so I was kinda gutted that happened today,” Wilde said.

“I was just gutted to let the team down with that. You know, crashes happen as part of racing, but fought as hard as I could to try to get back into the race. But just felt pretty fatigued coming on to the run. With that adrenaline spike, it was really hard to get the legs moving.”

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.