Olympic triathlon training was canceled Monday for the second consecutive day due to polluted water in the Seine.
Daily water tests showed the water quality was insufficient for safe swimming, raising fears that Tuesday’s men’s triathlon could be postponed.
Exceptionally heavy rain during the Opening Ceremony and further downpours on Saturday are thought to have overwhelmed the city’s sewer system and led to untreated effluent discharge into the river.
“Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that the priority is the health of the athletes,” Olympics organizers and the triathlon governing body said in a joint statement.
“The tests carried out in the Seine yesterday [Sunday] revealed water quality levels that in the view of the international federation, World Triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held. This is due to rain that has fallen on Paris on 26 and 27 July.”
However, Organizers remained confident that the fine weather over the past two days will mean conditions will improve and bacteria levels will fall to acceptable standards in time for the start of the competition, which is 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) on Tuesday. The women’s event is scheduled to be held on Wednesday.
French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra reassured the public, telling CNEWS on Monday that the implemented measures to control bacteria in the Seine were effective but that the weather remains a variable beyond their control. She expressed confidence that conditions would improve by Tuesday morning. Officials are “absolutely serene about all of this,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Should poor water quality persist, organizers have a contingency plan to postpone events and potentially replace the swimming segment with a duathlon if necessary.
Swimming in the Seine has been prohibited for over a century, primarily due to pollution concerns. Significant investments totaling 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) have been made to rehabilitate the river in preparation for the Olympics. This includes constructing a massive basin to capture rainwater and prevent wastewater from contaminating the Seine, along with upgrading sewer systems and wastewater treatment facilities.
Despite early June water quality tests showing unsafe levels of E. coli, subsequent improvements had been recorded until the recent rains. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo even took a public swim in the Seine two weeks prior to the Olympics to demonstrate confidence in the river’s safety for the upcoming events.
The Seine is slated to host several Olympic swimming events, including the men’s and women’s triathlons and the mixed relay, as well as marathon swimming competitions on Aug. 8 and 9.
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