The Olympic triathlete who went viral for vomiting 10 times during the swimming leg revealed to Triathlon Magazine what it was about the Seine River that made him blow chunks.
29-year-old Tyler Mislawchuck, of Canada, finished ninth overall in Wednesday’s men’s triathlon after he vomited almost a dozen times during the final movement of the race. Early on in the competition, though, he was pulling ahead and seemed to be poised to take a medal.
Reflecting on the viral moment(s), Mislawchuck said it was the excessive heat that made him sick. “I’m just a kid from Winnipeg, well, specifically Oak Bluff, where it’s –50 (Celcius) in the winter, and I’m here at the Summer Olympics.”
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— ????????REPLICATOR???????? (@REPLICATOR17) July 31, 2024
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Le triathlète canadien Tyler Mislawchuk quelques heures après son épreuve dans la #Seine de ce matin !#JeuxOlympiques2024 #Paris2024Olympic #ParisOlympics2024???????? pic.twitter.com/fVEj3AFt2Y
Negative 50°C equates to -58°F. On Wednesday, temperatures in Paris reached 32°C, which is about 90°F.
“For me, whether I was fourth or 55th, it doesn’t really matter,” the three-time Olympian said of his ninth-place finish. “I tried to win a medal and I went out there and was basically in third place with the two French guys for five and a half or six kilometers.”
Mislawchuck previously finished 15th in both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In 2020, the athlete
“At my last Olympics there was the injury and with all the stuff that happened there was a lot of ‘what ifs,'” said Mislawchuck, who finished 15th in both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games. In 2020, Mislawchuck tore his Achilles tendon during the individual race.
Although his Olympic return wasn’t quite what he expected, the athlete has no regrets. “For me, I did everything I could over the last three years. I came back from an Achilles tear, concussion, crashes. You name it, I’ve had it in the last three years,” Mislawchuck said. “I got to the start line healthy and gave it my all, I’m proud of the effort. You want more, but that’s all I had.”
Many blamed the Seine’s water quality for Mislawchuck’s vomiting, though he made no mention of that being the reason. The men’s triathlon was postponed from its original Tuesday schedule after severe rains blanketed Paris over the weekend and Monday, sending filthy runoff into the Seine.
Rachel Klamer, who participated in the women’s triathlon, was one of many athletes who slammed the river’s pollution, telling RTL Nieuws that “the Seine was disgusting.” She added, “The water was dirty, and the conditions were unfair. A lot of swimmers came out of the water behind me who are actually faster. The swimming was really a lottery.”
