Poor Seine River water quality cancels Paris Olympics triathlon practice

Low water quality in the Seine river forced the cancellation of a planned Olympic triathlon practice on Sunday, raising concerns the river may not be ready for finals this week.

Olympic triathletes were scheduled to test and familiarize themselves with the course on Sunday. However, officials and various governing bodies called it off.

The men’s triathlon event is scheduled for Tuesday, with the women’s race set for Wednesday. Olympic leaders said they expect the water quality will improve by then.

The Seine’s water quality has been closely tied to the weather and Paris saw hefty downpours on Friday which continued into Saturday.

“We’ve seen what were the dynamics of the Seine over the past few weeks, and that’s what makes us confident,” Paris Deputy Mayor Antoine Guillou said at a news conference Sunday, adding that it usually takes 24-48 hours from the end of storms for water quality to stabilize.

France spent $1.5 billion in the leadup to the Games to clean up the Seine, where swimming had been banned for more than a century due to unsafe water. In addition to the triathlon, the Seine is set to host open water swimming events.

Organizers continued to project confidence despite Sunday’s cancellation.

“We are still very confident with the weather forecast for the next 48 hours, the water quality will improve,” Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps said. “Thanks to all the work that has been undertaken by our public stakeholders, we saw the water quality of the River Seine has improved significantly.”

If the water quality remains poor, organizers plan to postpone the triathlon events for a few days. But if that’s not enough, the swimming portion of the race will be canceled entirely, turning it into a summer biathlon with only running and biking.

With News Wire Services