2024-07-28 09:03:26
The rains that fell on Friday (26) and Saturday (27) in Paris did not ruin the opening of the Olympic Games: they also increased the pollution of the River Seine, which became unnavigable again this Sunday (28) . The organizers canceled the triathlon training scheduled for this morning in Rio, but are “confident” that the races will be able to take place on Tuesday (30) and Thursday (31).
Published on: 07/28/2024 – 11:03Modified: 07/28/2024 – 11:10
3 min
Ten days after the bath of the President of Paris Anne Hidalgo, who promised the citizens of Paris that they can swim in the river next summer, three swimmers will not be able to test the Seine before the official competition. The triathlon was the first Olympic event held in the Seine, before the opening of the river, in the second week of the Paris Olympics.
In the night from Saturday to Sunday, the organizing committee of the Olympic Games, the International Triathlon Federation and the regional health authorities made a “common decision to cancel the swimming part of the triathlon commitment”, scheduled for Sunday, due to “levels water does. does not provide enough guarantees,” they said in a press release.
On Saturday afternoon, organizers had already warned that the previous day’s rain, of up to 16 millimeters, could worsen the water quality.
Especially in the health of athletes
The level of bacteria E.Coli and enterococci found is not specified by the three bodies, which shows that “important in the health of athletes”. Before swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday, the three athletes have the opportunity to “get to know each other” with swimming, or continue training in the pool, as in the legendary George Vallerey, in the east of Paris – where the athletes sports from previous Games. The 1924 Olympics, the last held in the French capital.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, swam in the Seine River on July 17, nine days before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. © Michel Euler / AP
Due to heavy rains in autumn and early summer, the water in the Seine is not suitable for bathing during most of June, making swimming impossible. On the other hand, from July 17th to 23rd, water quality analyzes are within sanitary standards.
“Given the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, Paris 2024 and the Triathlon World Championship are confident that the water quality will return below the limits before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30th,” they assured, in a joint statement.
The sun returns to the French capital this Sunday. On Saturday, an official from the American triathlon team expressed confidence. “With close monitoring and seeing how the (rainwater harvesting) system responds to rainfall, we have a good chance of doing a full triathlon,” said Team USA senior operations director Scott Schnitzspahn.
The state and region of Ile-de-France, where the capital is located, has injected 1.4 billion € since 2016 to clean the Seine and its main river, the Marne, thanks to the renewal of water treatment facilities, connected to the moored. vessels to the sewage network and improved waste collection, among other measures.
The plan led to five major projects, including a rainwater and wastewater retention basin near d’Austerlitz station in central Paris.
With information from AFP
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