Canadian athletes at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India are finding success, despite illness plaguing the event.

The nation’s medal total doubled Thursday, with nine gold, one silver and two bronze, though many athletes are experiencing gastro-intestinal problems, known as Delhi belly, or more commonly, traveler’s diarrhea.

Genevieve Samur finished fourth in the 200m Freestyle, and will compete in the 4 x 100m relay on Sunday. Photo courtesy Jeux Du Commonwealth Games Canada/Flickr

“On any given day we have about 30 athletes who are suffering from some sort of mild form of Delhi belly, but typically it’s short lived ­– like a 24 or 48 hour thing and it’s done,” Derek Johnston, Commonwealth Games Canada Communications, told thedailyplanet.com.

“Traveller’s diarrhea is a very common condition when one travels to a new area and they aren’t used to the bacteria in the food,” Dr. Tim Kelton, director of the Complete Traveler’s Clinic in Scarborough, ON, told thedailyplanet.com.

Kelton said he prescribes Dukoral to people traveling to the area, which helps reduce the risk, but is not a guaranteed defence – travellers are still urged to practice proper hygiene like washing their hands and boiling water.

“There’s bottled water available everywhere for them, throughout the village and at all the venues” said Johnston.

The suspected cause has been the training and competition pools at the event, and officials have said they are going to re-test the water for any contamination.

New Zealand swimmer Daniel Bell told The Canadian Press he doesn’t believe the pool is the culprit. “No way. Chlorine kills the bugs, man. I don’t think it’s from the pool or all the swimmers would be getting it,” Bell said.

“If the chlorination is at a proper level, then it does reduce the bacteria,” said Kelton.

It hasn’t just been the swimmers getting sick though. Canadian athletes from every sport have been experiencing it, with no sport being over-represented, Johnston said.

“It’s nothing serious, and nothing that’s caused any of the Canadian athletes to withdraw from the competition,” said Johnston.

Canada currently has 11 gold, two silver, and 11 bronze.

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