PARIS (Reuters) -The Olympics’ triathlon swimming training session scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled after recent heavy rain in Paris affected pollution levels in the Seine, organisers said in a statement.
A lot is riding on Olympic triathletes being cleared to swim in Paris’ central waterway, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo and 2024 Games organisers promising a swimmable river for residents will be a key legacy of the Games.
“The tests carried out in the Seine yesterday revealed water quality levels that in the view of the international federation, World Triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held,” said Paris 2024.
“This is due to rain that has fallen on Paris on July 26-27.”
Organisers said that, given the forecast for sunshine and higher temperatures over the next 48 hours, they were “confident” water quality would improve again before the triathlon events begin on Tuesday with the men’s race.
World Triathlon meets with Paris city authorities at 4 a.m. each morning ahead of triathlon training or competition events to analyse the latest water test results and decide whether the Seine is clean enough for athletes to swim.
The running and cycling course familiarisation sessions were going ahead as planned on Sunday.
The French capital has been working on cleaning up the Seine so people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Paris Olympics.
In May, the city unveiled a new 46,000 cubic metre storage basin meant to contain rainwater and waste water to reduce pollution levels in the river.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, Helen Reid, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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