PARIS, France – When Paris was chosen to host the 2024 Paris Olympics, the concept of hosting the Olympic swimming in the Seine seemed far from reality. The pollution in the Paris river was high, with E. coli levels well above what’s considered safe. But the push to make it swimmable continued nonetheless, and the Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo took a promised dip in the water back on July 17. But the triathlon swimming training was cancelled for the second time on Monday morning, just 24 hours before the men’s triathlon is set to kick off, and pollution and current speeds are to blame.
According to Reuters, water samples taken 24 hours before training and competition determines whether or not activities can take place within the river. Samples taken on Saturday and Sunday showed that heavy rains increased both the water current speed and the pollution levels, leading to the cancellation of Sunday and Monday’s training. The bike and run training for the triathlon remained unaffected.
It won’t be known if Tuesday’s men’s triathlon, set to kick off at 8 a.m. local time, will be postponed until 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning. The women’s race is set to kick off at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday. If either races have to be delayed, contingency days were set for August 2 for individual events and August 6 for the mixed relay.
“Given the weather forecast for the next 36 hours, Paris 2024 and World Triathlon are confident that water quality will return to below limits before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30.” – organizer statement from July 29