The navigable Seine is a postcard for the world, but it is also a negative protagonist in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for being the cause of the suspension, this Tuesday, of the men’s and women’s triathlon events. The poor quality of its waters threaten the health and life of the athletes themselves and no triathlete has been able to train since the opening ceremony. In fact, the only person who has been able to swim in its waters in recent weeks has been Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who wanted to boast with her strokes almost two weeks ago of clean water before the eyes of the world… and after investing 1.4 billion euros in cleaning up her river.
The test has been postponed, for the time being, to this Wednesday morning (women at 8:00 a.m. and men at 10:45 a.m.). This fiasco comes after for many months the Local Organizing Committee, the authorities of the city of Paris and the French President Emmanuel Macron himself, said openly and bluntly that the Seine River was ready to receive the triathletes of the five-ring event. Even the aforementioned mayor, Anne Hidalgo, as a good politician, wanted to play down the seriousness of the waters by swimming for a few minutes and assuring that “the waters of the Seine River are suitable and meet all health standards. Enterococci and feces are a thing of the past”.
NO PLAN B, THERE IS FECES AND ENTEROCOCCI
Apparently, last Friday and Saturday’s rain in Paris wiped out this thesis in one fell swoop and with them came back the enterococci, the high levels of E.coli and the feces of Parisians. Something that, although not under the control of the Local Organizing Committee, could have been foreseen and a ‘plan B’ (which there is none) could have been put in place. But the organizers – in consultation with the executive – determined that the Seine River was the country’s image and there was no turning back. It already took, unfortunately, the limelight away from the athletes at the opening ceremony and now it is doing the same. In the end, the eyes of the world will remember Paris 2024 because of its river…
Paris and the triathlon this Tuesday. (Shutterstock)
In any case, it is surprising that there was no analysis of previous years on similar dates to make an analysis of the consequences of the increased flow and rainfall and, on the other hand, of the pollutants that are public knowledge. It seems that the French authorities have played on the edge by incorporating a sporting competition on the Seine. That they care little about the negative connotation of swimming in these dirty waters, of a green color with more opaque color tints, as denouncing here you can not pass, it is forbidden to enter, it is forbidden to dive and put at risk the life of any person. The victim is the triathlon, an international sport, practiced on five continents and whose international federation, World Triathlon, can do little now once it accepted at the time to have its swimming event on the Seine and also to accept the absence of a ‘plan B’.
THE COI RAISED ITS VOICE
It seems that the French political class cares little or nothing about collateral damage in relation to the higher purpose of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which is none other than to show all that human tolerance allows, even putting at risk Olympic athletes, because they are the ones who enter to swim and to run the imminent risk of catching some bacteria. In fact, in recent days several leaders, coaches and athletes have openly questioned the terrible conditions of the Seine River, to the extent that the organizers have had to suspend training prior to the competition, because it is so serious that even the International Olympic Committee itself raised its voice and asked to solve always considering the welfare and health of triathletes.
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Some countries threatened to withdraw their athletes because they consider that the Seine River puts them at risk, besides producing a stop in their goal of training and reaching their highest point technically. Now, no one is the least bit concerned about the conditions that a triathlete must basically have to compete, because the behavior of the water is not going to change abruptly in 24, 48 or 72 hours. However, you do put at risk an Olympic cycle, where the details and the silent trainings take their toll and you can lose in the blink of an eye the work of four years without any explanation from the organizers.
Anne Hidalgo and Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024. (T. Pinto/SOPA/Shutterstock)
The sports disruptions generated by the use and abuse of the Seine River and its 1.4 billion euros invested for nothing, will remain as a bitter chapter of these Olympic Games Paris 2024. The most serious people hope that sanity and common sense will prevail in the decision-making process, not only for this men’s and women’s event, but also for future events, because on this occasion, the ones who have suffered the most are the athletes, who came with the illusion of competing in a unique scenario such as the Seine River and, in the end, it has been a real torment and a crossroads for the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
One last piece of information: 1.4 billion euros were invested in decontaminating the Seine River alone. In security they have exceeded 1.5 billion euros, only in these two items add up to 2.9 billion euros and the feeling remains – in light of the facts – that these Olympic Games in Paris 2024 will no longer be the most austere and will fight with London very similar costs, about 15 billion euros. A fiasco.
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 30, 2024
