Olympic triathletes won’t be given the chance to practice their swimming in the Seine ahead of their event after heavy rainfall caused the water quality to drop below an acceptable standard over the weekend. Honestly, the real race of this Olympics is whether or not organisers can de-shit the Seine in time for athletes to swim in it.
A joint statement released by Paris 2024 organisers and World Triathlon confirmed the cancellation, noting that they’re confident the water quality will be acceptable by the time the first triathlon event begins on July 30.
“The priority is the health of the athletes,” the statement read.
“The tests carried out in the Seine [on Saturday] 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.
“Given the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, Paris 2024 and World Triathlon are confident that water quality will return to below limits before the start for of the triathlon competitions [on 30 July].”
Cleaning up the Seine was a key part of Paris’ 2024 ambitions, and it seemed like efforts had been successful after Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo swan in the river earlier this month after months of failed water quality tests. However, the torrential rain that has swamped the city over the last couple of days has tanked the water quality significantly.
“As observed in July, with summer conditions (more sunshine, higher temperatures, prolonged absence of rain) water quality in the Seine has improved significantly,” the statement continued.
While organisers are confident the water quality will improve before tomorrow’s first race, the triathlon events have two contingency dates on August 1 and 2, if needed.
If the water quality still isn’t up to standard by August 2, the swimming leg will be scrapped and athletes will instead compete in a duathlon — which is less than ideal for competitors whose strongest leg is the swim.
The other event that is due to take place in the Seine, the open water swimming, can be moved to the Marne River in Paris’ east as a failsafe.
You can watch the triathlon, and all other Olympics events on Channel 9 and 9Now.
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