Seine water pollution caused Men’s triathlon to be Postponed to Wednesday
3 min read
The men’s triathlon swimming at Paris Olympics will not start as today on Tuesday as it was planned, due to pollution levels in the Seine that is too high, World Triathlon released a statement, dealing a blow to organizers and leaving athletes facing more uncertainty.
The race was postponed to Wednesday at 4:45 a.m. ET, immediately after the women’s event which is scheduled for 2 a.m. ET that day. Organizers previously stated that they were confident water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains on Friday and Saturday spoiled the river.
The Organizer revealed that water improved little few hours of the rain “Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
Should levels of bacteria remain the same by Wednesday morning both men’s and women’s races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events. If by Friday the water quality is still not good enough the swim leg will be scrapped and athletes will compete in a duathlon instead. For the mixed triathlon relay event on Aug. 5, then the following day will be contingency day is Aug. 6
More than plus or minus 50 people had gathered on the sun-drenched Invalides bridge by 7 a.m. to watch the race, only to learn that the race has been postponed. Magnus and Kristine Hagelsteen from Lund, Sweden, had packaged lite snacks such as chocolates for breakfast while watching the race and cheering on Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Magnus shared his disappointment after learning that race has been cancelled, he said ”It’s a pity for everyone, but especially for the ones that are going to do the triathlon, I would be so disappointed as you’re nearly there, ready to start, and then it’s cancelled.”
Paris authorities have invested heavily to make the Seine swimmable as a key legacy of the Games and spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.51 billion) on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimize spillage into the waterway. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo dived into a dip river by herself earlier this month, with aim to convince doubters while the City authorities have announced plans for three Seine swimming sites to open to the public by June next year.
Kristine Hagelsteen shared that it can make sense to the citizens of France, she said “For the Parisians it will be fabulous if you can go swimming in the river, and it should be like this, it should be that you can swim in the river in the city.”
Apart of Bacteria, the Olympic triathlon course was conceived to maximize the wow factor, with the river swim a key element. After diving into the Seine from a pontoon next to the Alexandre III bridge, athletes are set to race past the Musée d’Orsay and Grand Palais during the bike and run stages before ending back where they started.
Crossing the finish line on the bridge, they will be framed by stone columns topped with gilt-bronze statues of Pegasus, with the golden dome of the early 18th century Invalides monument as a backdrop.
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
