(Paris) The triathlon still deprived of swimming in the Seine. The mixed relay competition of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games test event also had to give up the river on Sunday, the water analyzes “not offering the necessary guarantees”, according to the organizers who hammer home their confidence for the Olympic deadline.
With less than a year to go (July 26 — August 11, 2024), this is the third test event to be troubled by the quality of the river water in two weeks since the open water swimming event had been canceled earlier this month. As for Sunday’s race, it was converted into a duathlon, like the paratriathlon test events the day before, namely only cycling and running. This format smiled on the German team, the Blues failed at the foot of the podium.
The cause of this impasse in the Seine remains the same: the concentration of Escherichia Coli (E. coli) bacteria in the river. The analyzes of three samples from the course showed levels above the regulatory threshold of 1,000 CFU per 100 ml set by World Triathlon before the race on Sunday, explained to AFP the sports assistant of the town hall of Paris, Pierre Rabadan. The readings were between 1300 and 1400 CFU / 100 ml, still according to him.
Storms, which in the event of heavy rainfall cause waste water to spill into the river, are not the cause. “An investigation is underway to find the cause of this degradation but, to date, we have not yet found an explanation,” acknowledged Pierre Rabadan.
“We miss the walk by very little,” said Minister of Sports and the Olympics, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. It is extremely encouraging, you have to see the glass half full […]. We will be there, I repeat. »
Never before has a triathlon been converted into a duathlon at the Olympic Games, even if the discipline is certainly of recent appearance (2000). “It would be a real shame,” said Beth Potter, winner of the women’s race on Thursday and second in the mixed relay on Sunday with the British team. “Hopefully next year it will be fine. »
“Water filtering is still under development. So next year it will be perfect,” said compatriot Alex Yee, winner of the men’s race. “What they are doing is truly historic, they are leaving a legacy after the Games. We can only applaud them. »
The work of connecting individuals who have inherited wild connections is indeed still in progress. “We are a quarter of the way there,” explained Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “We have the prospect of correcting 23,000 bad connections. It is also necessary to finalize the connection to the mains drainage of all the barges. »
“The objective was to make the Seine swimmable in 2024, recalls the boss of the organizing committee Tony Estanguet. This test takes place along the way, the device is not mature. There are still major efforts, new means deployed to improve the quality of the water in the Seine. As we have seen, it is improving month by month and will continue to improve. »
In addition, reigning French world champion Léo Bergère did not “hear that athletes had come out sick” from the men’s race. This was disputed on Friday, the day of the first samples which proved to be beyond the regulatory threshold at the time of their laboratory analysis.
“The maximum is done by the organization,” insists Léo Bergère.
Having confidence in its plan, the organization is not considering a plan B, she insists. “Since the beginning, we have stayed on the same project, insists Tony Estanguet. It is to organize triathlon and paratriathlon in this extraordinary site. You have a beautiful setting between the Grand Palais, the Invalides, this Alexandre III bridge. This course, I believe, is unanimous. »
