Is the Seine making athletes sick? How do ice vests work? Your Olympic well being questions answered.

Olympians must fuel up and get in the right mindset to carry out at peak ranges within the hopes of taking dwelling gold. However then there are the X components — like COVID-19, accidents, pregnancies and even dirty water — that may add further challenges to deal with and, in some instances, make headlines simply as a lot because the awe-inspiring performances themselves.

There’s quite a bit to maintain up with, however should you’re feeling out of the loop, don’t fear; we’re right here to reply a few of your most burning — no pun intended — Olympic well being questions because the 2024 Paris Video games proceed.

Is the Seine river making athletes sick?

Cleansing up the Seine to make it secure for swimming for the primary time in 100 years price $1.5 billion — however did it work?

A slew of athletes have taken sick, although the supply of their illness is unclear. On Sunday, Belgium introduced that it was withdrawing its team from the blended relay triathlon (a portion of which takes place within the Seine) after Belgian competitor Claire Michel bought sick after swimming within the river through the ladies’s triathlon on Wednesday.

Swiss officers stated on Saturday that triathlete Adrien Briffod, who additionally competed within the Seine on Wednesday, had fallen sick with a abdomen an infection; and on Sunday, they up to date that triathlete Simon Westermann, who had not participated in any swims within the Seine, additionally wanted to withdraw attributable to a abdomen an infection.

And Norwegian triathlete Vetle Bergsvik Thorn stated he wakened the morning after swimming within the river with an upset abdomen and vomiting, although he felt higher later that day and nonetheless deliberate to proceed competing. Thorn and the crew’s physician each suspected meals poisoning.

The large concern for Olympic organizers and athletes alike has been excessive ranges of E. coli — a micro organism that may trigger diarrhea and in addition result in different infections. CBS News reports that “water high quality within the Seine is immediately affected by rainfall that may result in wastewater runoff flowing into the river,” so climate circumstances will make a giant distinction. However the Associated Press reports that Aurélie Merle, the Paris 2024 director of sports activities, stated beforehand that water samples are taken practically 22 hours earlier than selections are made about whether or not it’s secure to swim, so outcomes might not be precisely correct on the day of the race.

How had been athletes getting ready? The New York Times reports that U.S. triathlete Taylor Spivey has been “upping her probiotic consumption” to “have a robust intestine” to protect towards any sicknesses from swallowing the river water.

U.S. triathlete Seth Rider has took an unconventional strategy, saying, “I simply attempt to improve my E. coli threshold by exposing myself to a little bit of E. coli in your day-to-day life. … Simply little issues all through your day, like not washing your palms after you go to the lavatory.” (However we should always word that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says handwashing is definitely top-of-the-line methods to guard towards E. coli an infection.)

This is how ice vests work — and different methods athletes are dealing with the warmth in Paris.

Temperatures in Paris have been near 100°F, presenting a severe problem to rivals.

The Olympic Village, which was initially designed to be AC-free, was fitted with over 2,500 transportable air-conditioning models forward of the Video games in response to issues about hovering temperatures. Nonetheless, gymnastics star Simone Biles says the 45-minute bus journey to her occasion did not have AC and was “like 9,000 levels.”

CNBC reports that “sizzling climate protocols” have included further breaks for tennis and soccer gamers, umbrellas for BMX riders and ice vests for crusing occasion contributors.

Reuters reports that the ice vests “have 4 compartments during which ice packs are inserted straight from the freezer and might final a number of hours,” however the vests aren’t a foolproof repair. Czech athlete Zofia Burska stated she wasn’t sporting hers as a result of it had sprung a leak.

“The water runs down my again and I do not prefer it,” she stated.

How else are athletes conserving their cool? U.S. tennis participant Coco Gauff stated she took an ice bath after her match; U.S. skateboarder Jagger Eaton stated he saved two towels helpful, in addition to “simply pounding” drinks; and New Zealand’s ladies’s rugby sevens crew loved “slushies, ice blocks, shade, ice water and chilly baths earlier than competing,” the Associated Press says.

Some Olympians are testing constructive for COVID. What precautions are being taken?

Multiple athletes have examined constructive for COVID on the Paris Video games, however these are being thought of the primary post-pandemic Olympics — which means there aren’t any set guidelines or restrictions round COVID.

Today reports that the U.S. swim crew — which incorporates two swimmers who’ve examined constructive for the virus — would not have any obligatory masking or testing in place, although extra masks had been noticed poolside on employees and athletes on Wednesday.

“We encourage our athletes to do no matter makes them most snug, working with the crew docs,” a U.S. swim crew spokesperson stated.

And the Australian crew is “treating COVID no otherwise to different bugs just like the flu,” based on Anna Meares, the chef de mission for the Australian Olympic crew, who added that the water polo gamers who examined constructive for COVID will put on masks, isolate from crew members exterior of coaching and keep away from high-volume areas.

NBC Information medical contributor Dr. Kavita Patel instructed In the present day the Paris Olympics don’t qualify as a COVID outbreak in the intervening time; primarily based on current pointers, 5% of athletes would want to check constructive inside a seven-day interval to qualify as an outbreak.

Comic Colin Jost injured his foot on coral whereas protecting browsing on the Olympics for NBC in Tahiti. The Saturday Evening Reside star was doing a little browsing of his personal when he stood on a coral reef and harm his toes shortly after arriving on the French Polynesian island.

“I’ve been visiting the medical tent recurrently. It’s a bizarre feeling once you’re within the medical tent far more than any of the athletes,” Jost told NBC Olympics Late Night host Maria Taylor. “[The medical staff] began saying, ‘We have to see you daily,’ which at first I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, guys, I such as you too.’ And so they had been like, ‘No, it’s as a result of the an infection hasn’t improved.’”

Divers Alert Community (DAN) says that “cuts and scrapes from sharp-edged coral and barnacles are likely to fester and should take weeks and even months to heal.” DAN additionally notes that coral are “coated by dwelling marine organisms” — making the accidents from them uniquely difficult to deal with.

In a joke later within the NBC interview, Jost elaborated extra on his an infection, saying, “Why did the hen cross the street? To peck on the staph an infection in my foot.”

Staph infections are attributable to micro organism referred to as Staphylococcus aureus, and might develop into lethal if the micro organism enters the bloodstream, joints, bones, lungs or coronary heart, the Mayo Clinic says. Therapy entails antibiotics and completely cleansing and protecting the contaminated space to stop it from spreading.

A fencer competed whereas 7 months pregnant. Is that secure?

After she had completed competing, Olympian Nada Hafez revealed on Instagram that she had taken half within the 2024 Paris Video games while seven months pregnant.

“The rollercoaster of being pregnant is hard by itself, however having to battle to maintain the steadiness of life & sports activities was nothing in need of strenuous, nonetheless value it,” the Egyptian fencer wrote.

Whereas touting the Olympic Village nursery, the Worldwide Olympic Committee had said earlier than Hafez’s announcement that they “wish to make sure that being pregnant and motherhood don’t imply a profession finish particularly for feminine athletes.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine says that high-performance athletes can often keep their train routine whereas pregnant so long as the being pregnant is uncomplicated, and after consulting with their well being care supplier. In reality, being pregnant could even supply elite athletes a bonus. One skilled told the New York Times in 2017 — after tennis star Serena Williams gained her twenty third Grand Slam singles title whereas eight weeks pregnant — that early being pregnant could supply an endurance benefit to athletes “because of the rise in oxygen-carrying crimson blood cells.”

What are these darkish circles I am seeing on some Olympians?

They’re the marks attributable to a apply generally known as cupping, which entails inserting cups on the pores and skin for a number of minutes to create suction. The discoloration is caused by damaged blood vessels beneath the pores and skin, just like bruising, and fades over a couple of weeks.

Cupping has been practiced in Chinese language drugs and a few Center Japanese cultures for 1000’s of years. It was partially popularized within the sports activities world by swimming legend Michael Phelps, who donned the marks on the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Followers of the approach declare it could possibly promote blood circulation, alleviate again or neck ache and enhance immune operate, amongst different issues. However the National Institutes of Health says there’s no concrete proof to again up these purported well being advantages, and should even have undesirable unwanted effects like “persistent pores and skin discoloration, scars, burns and infections.”

What’s Simone Biles’s leg damage?

Followers had been involved when GOAT gymnast Simone Biles displayed a wrapped up left leg through the Paris video games. So what was behind the bandages?

Yahoo Sports reports that Biles suffered a left calf damage throughout {qualifications} in Paris, apparently “throughout a warm-up tumbling move on the ground train.”

Biles’s coach Cecile Landi stated Biles “simply [felt] a bit of ache in her calf. She felt it a bit of bit on the ground [and] we taped it a bit of.” Landi additionally told reporters “that the soreness in Biles’s left calf was one thing she had been coping with for a couple of weeks, however that she exacerbated it through the warm-up.”

Biles went on to compete on ground and vault with a taped leg, and sealed the U.S. women’s team’s gold medal victory on July 30 — turning into essentially the most adorned gymnast of all time. She gained gold once more on Thursday within the particular person ladies’s all-around competitors, and silver on Monday within the ladies’s ground train remaining.

How can athletes like gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik compete with out their glasses?

Earlier than acting on the pommel horse, U.S. gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik eliminated his glasses. However how was the Olympian capable of see something, not to mention carry out medal-worthy strikes?

Nedoroscik told Today that he has to take his glasses off as a result of “if I hold them on, they’re gonna fly someplace.” As an alternative, Nedoroscik depends on different senses.

“Once I go up on the pommel horse, it’s all about feeling the gear,” he stated. “I don’t even actually see after I’m doing my gymnastics. It’s all within the palms — I can really feel all the pieces.”

Nedoroscik has strabismus — a situation that may manifest as misaligned or uncoordinated eye actions.

“Mainly I’m cross-eyed, and I can change my dominant eye on command with each eyes opened,” he revealed on TikTok.

The bronze-winning Olympian additionally has coloboma — a situation the place a part of the attention tissue is lacking, which may end up in sensitivity to mild, low imaginative and prescient or blindness.

In different Olympics information:

Do not miss a medal! Sign up for the Yahoo Sports activities AM publication for Paris Olympics highlights delivered straight to your inbox.

This text was initially revealed on Aug. 2, 2024, and has been up to date.