Stomach bug hits athletes in London World Athletic Championship

London, August 8: Several athletes at the World Athletics Championships have been laid low by stomach upsets with Botswana's Isaac Makwala saying that he was forced to withdraw from the 200m heats because of food poisoning.

The organisers released a statement on Monday (August 7) saying that a number of teams had reported cases of gastroenteritis at their official hotel.

"Those affected have been supported by both team and LOC medical staff, in addition we have been working with Public Health England to ensure the situation is managed and contained," the organising committee said in a statement.

"As a result, further advice and guidelines have been issued to team doctors and support staff - standard procedure for such an occurrence where a number of teams are occupying championship accommodation."

It was not immediately clear if Makwala, who pulled out of the 200m heats earlier on Monday, was staying at the hotel in question but he said on his Facebook page that other athletes in his accommodation had been ill.

Ireland's 400m hurdler Thomas Barr was also forced out of his semifinals on Monday. "I wasn't feeling great yesterday evening and later in the night I was hit with a bad bout of gastroenteritis," Barr said in an Athletics Ireland statement.