Seine River pre-race triathlon event at Olympics called off due to water quality worries
PARIS — Concerns regarding the water quality of Paris’ Seine River have persisted during the 2024 Olympics, resulting in the cancellation of a pre-race triathlon event on Sunday.
Event organizers decided to eliminate the swimming portion of the triathlon familiarization slated for Sunday morning following a discussion about water quality among officials responsible for conducting water quality assessments. This discussion involved representatives from World Triathlon, as well as municipal and regional authorities.
Swimming in the Seine has been prohibited for more than a century primarily due to substandard water quality. Organizers have allocated $1.5 billion to ready the Seine for these Games, and the government has assured that the river would be sufficiently pure to accommodate events such as the swimming segment of the triathlon and the marathon swimming competition.
Regular water quality assessments in early June revealed hazardous levels of E. coli bacteria, but there have been recent improvements. Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo took a well-known plunge in the river less than two weeks before the Olympic events were scheduled to commence, fulfilling a promise to demonstrate that the historically polluted waterway was sufficiently clean to host swimming competitions.
Heavy rainfall during the opening ceremony reignited concerns about whether the historically polluted waterway would be sufficiently clean to host swimming competitions, as water quality is closely linked to the weather in the French capital.
Since 2015, organizers have heavily invested in preparing the Seine for the Olympics and in ensuring that Parisians have a cleaner river after the Games. The initiative involved the construction of a massive underground water storage basin in central Paris, the renovation of sewer systems, and the enhancement of wastewater treatment facilities.
Triathletes have expressed optimism that the waters would be pure enough for them to swim in.
“Hopefully we get to swim, bike, and run because I don’t swim this much just to run and bike,” remarked Spanish triathlete Alberto Gonzalez.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games