If the Olympic Games are good for anything, other than watching the best athletes on the planet battle it out for gold, it is to give notoriety to the cities that host them. The Games are a big, huge, gigantic showcase. Paris knows this. And that is why it has wanted to give a leading role to some of its most emblematic places, including the Seine, the scene of the opening ceremony on Friday. Much to its chagrin, however, the river is making headlines for a reason that has little to do with sport: its pollution levels are so high that they are already forcing postponements. training y competitions.
And that France has spent a huge amount of money to keep his promise that after the Olympics, Paris would enjoy a cleaner Seine.
An unexpected protagonist. France wanted the Seine to be one of the main protagonists of its Olympic Games. And so it is, although in the worst possible way. Despite the infrastructures built by the Gallic authorities, the Marketing campaings Despite the huge investment made to clean up its image and the huge investment made to get the river ready for 2024, the poor quality of the Seine’s waters continues to be a topic of discussion. And not only in the field of speculation or doubt. There are analyses that confirm that its waters are not clean enough, which is interfering already in the test planning.
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The triathlon test has been postponed. The day has dawned with the worst news for the Parisian authorities and the organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. After observing that the rains on Friday and Saturday have deteriorated the quality of the water of the Seine and that analyses have shown “values above acceptable limits” at certain points in the riverbed, World Triathlon has decided to postpone the men’s triathlon event. The competition should have been held hoybut the organisers have decided to postpone it until tomorrow, Wednesday. It will be held from 10.45 am, shortly after the women’s event, scheduled for 8 am.
The (murky) shadows of the Sena. The news has caused a stir, although it is not a surprise. The poor quality of the Sena has already forced the suspension of the training sessions planned for Sunday and Monday. The reason, exactly the same:The Olympic Organising Committee, the International Triathlon Union and local authorities decided to cancel training because “water quality levels” did not offer “sufficient guarantees” for the athletes.
“Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes,” repress from the organization. Therefore, a crucial question remains on the horizon of the Olympic Games: What will happen in the coming days and with the pending testsincluding triathlon and open water swimming?
“If bacteria levels remain too high on Wednesday morning, it is likely that both the men’s and women’s races will be postponed to Friday 2 August, the contingency day reserved for all events,” the organisers warn. RTVE slides If the water quality still does not meet the required standards on Friday, the swimming event could be cancelled and a duathlon will be held, with cycling and running events.
An ineffective “Palomares”. Proof of how much doubts about the healthiness of the Seine weighed and how they worried the French authorities is that just a few weeks ago, July 17ththe Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, decided to emulate Manuel Fraga’s famous bath in Palomares and dive into the Seine. If the Francoist minister wanted to demonstrate that the Almería region was free of nuclear contamination, the Parisian mayor aspired to clear up doubts about the cleanliness of the Seine. The president of the organizing committee of the Games and the prefect of the Ile-de-France region went into the river with her.
Hidalgo’s dip was media-friendly, but it did not serve to dispel doubts about the quality of the Sena. Shortly afterward, the radio station France Info revealed that on the day the mayor and the other senior officials dived into the river, the concentration of E. coli bacteria was 985 CFU per 100 millilitres, above the limit of 900. As it passed through Bercy, the river reached an even higher figure, 1,017.
What do the authorities say? They call for calm. mid-July The Paris City Council assured that, out of 12 days analyzed, the waters of the Seine had met health standards on 10. The president of the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games insist “There is no solution to move the events” and guarantees that the triathlon will take place on the Seine as planned. “We are absolutely calm,” agreed the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, during the meeting. an interview with CNEWS.
“The only element that could not be controlled was the weather hazard, with heavy and prolonged rain. That is exactly what happened. But we have always said that we could deal with this type of scenario, just with a little delay. I am sure that we will be able to be there tomorrow for the test.”
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Why is it so important? Whether or not the Seine is in a condition to host Olympic events is not only relevant because of the importance of the Olympic Games themselves and the worldwide visibility they achieve. If France is closely following what happens with the Seine, it is because it has spent millions and millions of euros precisely to create an infrastructure that guarantees its health in the run-up to the Olympics. There is talk of 1.4 billion euros dedicated to improving the infrastructure that receives waste water and thus contain and minimize discharges into the canal. In memory were the swimming tests that had already been carried out fail last year.
In May, Hidalgo herself inaugurated a storage basin The Seine was created specifically to keep the Seine clean. According to the information provided at the time, the huge reservoir is capable of holding the equivalent of twenty Olympic swimming pools of dirty water and its objective is to treat this huge volume of liquid instead of diverting it through storm drains into the river. Its enormous capacity should theoretically allow it to collect excess rain and prevent the river from receiving waste water. The positive results of the last few days come in fact after the intense rains recorded on Friday and Saturday, which They already scored the opening date.
And a promise still to be made. The healthiness of the Seine is important for another key reason, in addition to its importance in environmental terms. The idea is not just to have the Seine host triathlons or open water swimming. The authorities’ aim is to return the Seine to Paris, which has not had swimming in its river for more than a century, a decision taken in 1923 largely because of the the risks which involves river traffic, but which has also been marked by unhealthiness.
Hidalgo actually dove near City Hall, one of the three places which are supposed to open to the public in 2025. The doubts that the analyses cast on the Olympic tests also extend beyond that, to a future in which the inhabitants of Paris themselves will be able to enjoy the river safely.
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At Aroged | “I shit in the Seine”: less than two months before the Olympic Games, Paris has a huge problem with its river
