Triathletes competing at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games risk swimming in waters polluted with raw sewage, according to reports.
The warning follows Environment Agency statistics, analysed by the Liberal Democrats, revealing raw sewage gushed into the waters of triathlon venue Sutton Park last year, and monitoring equipment had long malfunctioned.
Campaigners warned sewage could have been dumped into Wyndley Pool, another lake connected by a channel to Powell’s Pool, 314 days last year.
Powell’s Pool, where the 750m swimming leg will take place, is the biggest of seven lakes at Sutton Park, which has a history of sewage spills.
That includes two in 2019, while Severn Trent – a water supply company – was fined £500,000 (NZ$966,546) the same year for a 2013 spill, in which thousands of litres of effluent poured into Longmoor Pool due to a blockage in the company’s sewer system.
Birmingham 2022 organisers have been quick to quell concerns, pointing out athletes won’t be swimming in Longmoor Pool, and regular tests by Games organisers and the Birmingham City Council showed results were in line with international federation regulations.
Five Kiwis are set to compete in the triathlon on the opening day of competition, starting Friday night (NZT), down one from initially planned.
Triathletes competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games have been warned they could be swiming in sewage polluted waters.
Ainsley Thorpe won’t feature in the women’s individual race on Saturday morning (NZT) after becoming the first Kiwi athlete to be scratched from a Birmingham 2022 event due to Covid-19.
The 24-year-old withdrew after contracting the virus in Spain, the New Zealand Olympic Committee confirmed.
Thorpe, who has mild symptoms and is receiving healthcare support, had been based in Girona for a pre-games training camp.
The good news for Thorpe is her Commonwealth Games aren’t necessarily over, given she could yet be considered for the mixed relay race on Sunday night (NZT), pending assessment by New Zealand team doctors.
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Kiwi triathlete Ainsley Thorpe has been scratched from the women’s individual race at the Commonwealth Games due to Covid-19.
Nicole van der Kaay and Andrea Hansen (nee Hewitt) will contest the women’s individual race, while Hayden Wilde, Tayler Reid and Dylan McCullough will line up in the men’s individual on Friday night (NZT).
Thorpe’s withdrawal follows an unnamed male Kiwi athlete testing positive for the virus upon arrival in England this week.
As reported at the beginning of the month, New Zealand athletes who contract Covid-19 could still compete in the 2022 Birmingham Games, which have far more relaxed rules and guidelines in place than at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Members of the 232-strong Kiwi team, which has more stringent rules in place than the Games’ protocols, won’t be tested daily for the virus, but will have symptomatic PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) tests when required.
A positive test will also not automatically lead to isolation, as has been the case over the course of the pandemic the past two years for the majority of sports teams, while close contacts will be monitored but also not automatically isolated.
New Zealand media covering the games are required to wear face masks when interviewing Kiwi athletes, or while in proximity of them.
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