UPDATE: After being postponed on Tuesday due to pollution in the Seine, the Olympic triathlon swimming competition took place on Wednesday morning. Both the women’s and men’s races will go ahead today, ending a long saga involving daily water testing to measure levels of a fecal bacteria known as E. coli.
“Following a meeting on water quality on July 31 at 3:30 am, attended by Paris 2024, representatives of World Triathlon and their technical and medical delegates, Météo France, the City of Paris and the Prefecture of the Île-de-France region have been involved in conducting water quality tests, the relevant stakeholders have confirmed that the women’s and men’s triathlons will go ahead as planned on July 31, at 8:00 am and 10:45 am respectively,” read the official statement from the Paris 2024 organizers.
“The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3:20 am, have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon, allowing the triathlon competitions to take place,” the statement continued.
The subject of a running joke since the release of Xavier Gens’ hit film ‘Under Paris’ on Netflix, the Seine had to be clean enough for the triathlon and marathon competitions from the start of the Games. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had promised months ago to make water quality safe enough for athletes and locals to swim in. The ambitious project to clean up the notoriously toxic river cost more than $1.5 billion but was quickly plagued by scorn and even a social media campaign #JeChieDansLaSeine, which encouraged Parisians to defecate in the water earlier this month.
The mayor of Paris went swimming in the Seine on July 17 (wearing a wetsuit and goggles) with Tony Estanguet, the gold medal-winning French slalom canoeist who chairs the Olympic Games organizing committee, to stoke enthusiasm and show that it was safe enough. But it turns out that the Seine was still heavily polluted.
Local media have reported that heavy rain on July 26 – mainly during the opening ceremony – caused levels of E. coli and other bacteria to rise in the Seine. This had already resulted in two training days (on Sunday and Monday) being cancelled. The mixed team relay is scheduled for August 5.
The pouring rain during the opening ceremony also forced Lady Gaga to pre-record her performance for safety reasons. Maud le Pladec, the choreographer and head of dance for the Olympic and Paralympic Games who worked with Gaga for many months, said her show was almost canceled due to weather conditions.