Paris Olympics Proceeds With Triathlon Swimming Race After Postponing Due to E. Coli-Polluted

July 2024 · 5 minute read

UPDATE: After being postponed on Tuesday due to pollution in the Seine river, the Olympics triathlon swimming competition took place on Wednesday morning. Both the women’s and men’s races are going ahead today, ending a long saga involving daily water tests measuring levels of a faecal bacteria known as E. coli.

“Following a meeting on water quality held on 31 July at 3.30am attended by Paris 2024, representatives of World Triathlon and their Technical and Medical Delegates, Météo France, the City of Paris and the Prefecture of the Île-de-France Region involved in carrying out water quality tests, the stakeholders involved have confirmed that the women’s and the men’s triathlons will go ahead as planned on 31 July at 8am and 10.45am respectively,” read the official statement released by Paris 2024 organizers.

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“The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3.20am, have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place,” the statement continued.

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The subject of a running joke since the release of Xavier Gens’ hit shark movie “Under Paris” on Netflix, the Seine was supposed to be clean enough for the Triathlon and Marathon competitions since the beginning the Games. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had pledged to make the water quality safe enough for athletes and locals to swim in it many months ago. The ambitious project to clean the notoriously toxic river cost more than $1.5 billion, but it was soon plagued by scorn and even a social media campaign #JeChieDansLaSeine, which encouraged Parisians to defecate in the water earlier this month.

The Paris mayor took a swim in the Seine (wearing a wetsuit and goggles) on July 17 alongside Tony Estanguet, the gold medal-winning French slalom canoeist who presides over the Olympics organizing committee, to drum up enthusiasm and show that it was safe enough. But it turns out that the Seine was still highly polluted.

Local media outlets have reported that the heavy rains on July 26 – mainly during the opening ceremony — have ramped up the levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the Seine. That had already caused two training days (on Sunday and Monday) to be canceled. The mixed team relay is set for Aug. 5.

The pouring rain during the opening ceremony also forced Lady Gaga to pre-tape her performance for safety reasons. Maud le Pladec, the choreographer and head of dance for the Olympics and Paralympics who worked with Gaga for many months, said her show was nearly called off due to the weather conditions.

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