Paris Olympics: Men’s triathlon race postponed due to Seine’s pollution levels
THE men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics did not go ahead on Tuesday (Jul 30) as planned as pollution levels in the Seine remain too high, World Triathlon said in a statement, dealing a blow to organisers and leaving athletes facing more uncertainty.
The race was postponed to Wednesday at 10.45 am (4.45 pm, Singapore time), immediately after the women’s event, which is scheduled for 8 am that day.
Organisers had previously said they were confident that water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains last Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.
“Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits,” they said on Tuesday.
Should levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning, both the men’s and women’s races are likely to be postponed to Friday – the contingency day reserved for the events.
If by Friday the water quality is still not good enough, the swim leg will be scrapped and athletes will compete in a duathlon instead. For the mixed triathlon relay event on Aug 5, the contingency day is Aug 6.
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Australia’s Olympic team chief Anna Meares said news of the postponement had not deterred the triathletes.
“The athletes are really looking forward to having that stage and that platform to perform on,” she told reporters. “They actually want to swim in the river.”
French triathlon federation technical director Benjamin Maze told FranceInfo radio that they were taking steps to help athletes deal with the situation.
“Of course there is a little bit of anger and a lot of disappointment,” he said.
The federation had been working with psychologists to help athletes prepare mentally for the uncertainty, Maze added.
Around 50 spectators had gathered on the sun-drenched Invalides bridge by 7 am to watch the race, only to learn it had been postponed.
Paris authorities have invested heavily to make the Seine swimmable as a key legacy of the Games, and spent 1.4 billion euros (S$2.03 billion) on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimise spillage into the waterway.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo even took a dip in the river herself earlier this month, in a bid to convince doubters. City authorities have announced plans for three Seine swimming sites to open to the public by June next year.
But the gamble that the river would be clean enough on the day of the triathlon was never guaranteed to pay off, especially as water quality varies widely day-to-day.
Rainfall often causes sewer systems to overflow into the river, significantly increasing concentrations of infection-causing bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E coli).
Seth Rider, one of 55 triathletes entered in the men’s race, has been taking unconventional measures to prepare for exposure to bacteria.
“We know that there’s going to be some E coli exposure, so I just try to increase my threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E coli in (my) day-to-day life,” the US athlete said in a press conference on Saturday.
“Just little things throughout your day, like, not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom.”
Bacteria aside, the Olympic triathlon course was conceived to maximise the wow factor, with the river swim a key element.
After diving into the Seine from a pontoon next to the Alexandre III bridge, athletes are set to race past the Musee d’Orsay and Grand Palais during the bike and run stages before ending back where they started.
Crossing the finish line on the bridge, they will be framed by stone columns topped with gilt-bronze statues of Pegasus, with the golden dome of the early 18th century Invalides monument as a backdrop.
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