Paris 2024: Seine River Pollution Embarrasses Organising Committee

Triathlon Training Cancelled Due to River Contamination

In a joint statement, the organisers and the International Triathlon Union announced the cancellation of Monday’s scheduled training session due to “insufficient water quality guarantees.” The Paris region has experienced unusually heavy rainfall in recent weeks, leading to increased pollution levels in the Seine River as untreated sewage flows into the waterway.

On the 4th of this month, the city council reported that E. coli bacteria levels in the Olympic swimming area in central Paris had dropped to acceptable limits for four days. However, at one point, E. coli levels were ten times the acceptable limit due to heavy rains over the past two months, raising concerns about hosting the Olympic events.

The organisers had previously cancelled Sunday’s triathlon training session, a sport that includes swimming, cycling, and running. On July 17th, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the Seine alongside Paris 2024 chief organiser Tony Estanguet to demonstrate that the river was now clean enough to host outdoor swimming events during the Olympics, which the French capital will host until August 11th.

Over the past decade, French authorities have spent €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) to clean the river by improving Paris’s sewage system and building new water treatment and storage facilities. Mid-July tests indicated that the Seine was clean enough for swimming, but doubts remained about whether the water would be suitable for competition.

On Monday, Paris 2024 organisers and the International Triathlon Union expressed confidence that water quality would improve sufficiently before the competition starts on Tuesday, considering the weather forecast for the next 48 hours.

What is Triathlon?

Triathlon is a three-part race, similar to a marathon, that begins with swimming, followed by cycling, and ends with running.