The Olympic triathlon swimming training session scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled after recent heavy rain in Paris affected pollution levels in the Seine, organisers said in a statement.
A lot is riding on Olympic triathletes being cleared to swim in Paris’ central waterway when the competition kicks off on Tuesday, with France investing 1.4 billion ($1.52bn) in new wastewater infrastructure to cut sewage levels and make the river swimmable for residents as a key legacy of the Games.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip in the Seine on July 17 to try to convince doubters that the water will be clean enough for athletes to compete in the river, as they did during the 1900 Olympics. When Hidalgo swam in the river, E.coli levels were above the levels deemed safe by World Triathlon, the sport’s governing body.
“We have had some rainfall but everything that has been put in place has worked, it prevents overflows from occurring so I think we will reach a satisfying quality of the water very soon, but it will depend on the weather forecast as well,” Pierre Rabadan, the city’s deputy mayor for sports, told a news conference on Sunday.
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,” organisers Paris 2024 said in a statement.
“This is due to rain that has fallen on Paris on July 26-27.”
Organisers said that, given the forecast for sunshine and higher temperatures over the next 48 hours, they were “confident” water quality would improve again before the triathlon events begin on Tuesday with the men’s race.
World Triathlon meets with Paris city authorities at 4 a.m. each morning ahead of triathlon training or competition events to analyse the latest water test results and decide whether the Seine is clean enough for athletes to swim.
Should the water quality not improve in time for the triathlon, World Triathlon rules allow for the competition to be held as a duathlon.
The running and cycling course familiarisation sessions were going ahead as planned on Sunday.
The French capital has been working on cleaning up the Seine so people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Paris Olympics.
In May, the city unveiled a new 46,000-cubic metre storage basin meant to contain rainwater and waste water to reduce pollution levels in the river.