Triathlete ‘Spills His Guts’ 10 Times After Swimming in France’s Polluted River at Paris Olympics

Turns out the “Splash Zone” extends to land when you’re swimming in the Seine River during the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, as Canadian triathlete Tyler Mislawchuk, living up to his surname, “upchucks”  at the finish line of the men’s triathlon event on Wednesday. The river, notorious for its questionable cleanliness, did not disappoint—or did, depending on your perspective.

Whether it was the water’s questionable contents or the sheer exhaustion of the physically demanding sport, Mislawchuk looked to be in rough shape at the end of the race. He finished ninth with a time of 1:44:25 but celebrated by vomiting ten times.

Social media had a field day over this viral moment, as netizens came up with hilarious memes. One user joked about what must be going through Tyler Mislawchuk’s mind at the time, tweeting: “Swim the River Seine, they said. It’ll be fun, they said 😭.”

Another user, taking a shot at the Paris Olympics’ endless controversies, quipped, “What an incredible shit show this Olympics is.”

Here’s another hilarious clip of Tyler on his way to the finish line.

Officials had assured everyone the water was safe for Wednesday’s event, which also included cycling and a 10-kilometer run. The event had initially been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to—you guessed it—concerns about water quality.

“Despite the improvement in water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above acceptable limits,” organizers said in a statement. The efforts to make the Seine swimmable reportedly cost $1.5 billion.

Clearly, they missed a spot—or ten. Tyler wasn’t the only one feeling queasy; several other athletes were seen lying on the ground, chugging “clean” water to rinse the taste of the Seine out of their mouths. One user summed it up perfectly with a viral photo of athletes at the finish line, commenting: “The finish line in the men’s triathlon looks like a renaissance painting.”

And so, Tyler Mislawchuk’s “gutsy” performance becomes another embarrassing highlight of the 2024 Paris Olympics.