Paris.- For the second day in a row, the training sessions scheduled for this Monday in the Seine, destined for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games competitions that would take place on the river, have been cancelled due to the poor quality of the water.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organizing Committee (COJOP) and the International Triathlon Federation, through a statement, communicate that the decision was taken this morning after a meeting with the Météo France meteorological service, the City of Paris, and the Prefecture of the Ile de France region.
The Sunday analyses in the river indicate that “the conditions are not optimal”, motivated by the rains of Friday and Saturday, pointing out that “the health of the athletes is the most important”, it is clarified in the statement.
The increase in the water level of the Seine due to the rains causes overflows in the sewers, whose content ends up in the river without being treated, contaminating it with fecal bacteria.
The COJOP and the Federation maintain an optimism, relying on the “meteorological forecasts for the next 36 hours”, which do not anticipate more rains, hoping that “the water quality will improve and be within the parameters before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30».
They highlight that, with the summer conditions, sunny and high temperatures, “the water quality in the Seine has experienced a significant improvement».
The triathlon swimming competitions will take place in the Seine on July 30 for men, July 31 for women, and August 5 for the mixed relay. In addition, open water marathons will be held on July 31 and August 5, both male and female, as part of the Paris 2024 initiative to include the city’s most iconic places in the Games.
Since 2016, the French government has invested 1.4 billion euros in an ambitious plan to improve water quality, with the goal of allowing bathing in the Seine section that crosses Paris from the summer of 2025, something that has not been possible in a century.
On July 17, the Mayor of Paris demonstrated that it was possible to bathe in the river, doing so in front of cameras and dozens of journalists alongside Tony Estanguet, responsible for the Paris 2024 Games Organizing Committee, and the Prefect of the Ile de France region, although it was later revealed that the water did not meet the health standards established by the health authorities last year.
credits of the images of this post: Elnacional.com.do
