2023-08-19 10:14:09
If the triathlon events were able to be held normally on Thursday and Friday in Paris, those dedicated to disabled athletes had to be adapted this Saturday August 19. One year before the Olympic Games, swimming in the river still raises questions.
The improvement will have been short-lived in the Seine. The swimming events scheduled for this Saturday, August 19 as part of the paratriathlon “test event” of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have been canceled due to “significant discrepancies” in the results of the “water quality” analysis. of the Seine, announced the organizers. As a result, the paratriathlon events were changed on Saturday to a duathlon format, namely only cycling and running.
“A new meeting will be held tomorrow morning (Sunday) to determine, depending on the new data available on the quality of the water, if the swimming events in the Seine of the mixed relay event can be held”, indicate jointly the organizing committee of the Paris-2024 Games, World Triathlon, the city of Paris and the various State services.
Thursday and Friday, however, the women’s and men’s triathlon events could well have been held in the river. “Honestly, the quality of the water in the Seine is very satisfactory,” welcomed the boss of the organizing committee (Cojo) Tony Estanguet. Even if, according to World Triathlon regulations, the level of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria measured, greater than 500 CFU per 100 mL, does not allow the river water to be classified as “very good quality”. Still, it had fallen below 1,000 CFU per 100 mL, the maximum threshold authorized by World Aquatics.
Open water swimming events already canceled
Obviously, the analyzes of the water of the Seine are again dubious. Exceeding the tolerated level of E. coli had led to the cancellation of the open water swimming test event, less than two weeks ago (it was recorded at 1300 CFU / 100 ml), due to heavy rains. for several days preceding the event, which overflowed the sewers and carried the waste water back into the river.
One year from the Paris Games, swimming in the Seine therefore remains to be taken with a grain of salt. “It will continue to improve, promises Tony Estanguet. […] When we organize events there are always hazards, a lot can happen but we have seen the teams’ ability to react. For the Games, the calendar of events may be postponed or anticipated, if major storms are forecast for example. “The rules of World Triathlon even allow swimming to be removed, noted Tony Estanguet on Thursday. It’s already arrived.” This Saturday is the less than brilliant illustration of this.
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