A training session for the triathletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics has been canceled due to high pollution levels in the Seine River. The Seine, which flows down the heart of Paris, has had high E. coli levels leading up to the Games.
World Triathlon announced that today’s tests, “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.”
The training session was scheduled for today, Sunday July 28th, just two days before the men’s triathlon race is set to begin on Tuesday. The women’s race is scheduled for Wednesday. The river is also scheduled to host the open water swimming competition and the mixed triathlon relay next week.
This is not the first time that the river has been a cause of concern. Over a billion euros have been spent on the clean up in the river in hopes of its ability to host the competitions. Swimming in the river has been banned since 1923. Just over one month ago, the river failed a water quality test as it reported E. Coli levels were 10x above the acceptable limit.
Notably, World Aquatics and World Triathlon have different acceptable limits for E.Coli and other bacterial levels:
World Aquatics requirements for inland waterways:
● Enterococci score: <200 is Excellent; <400 is Good; >400 is Unacceptable
● E. Coli score: <500 is Excellent; <1,000 is Good; >1,000 is Unacceptable
World Triathlon requirements for inland waterways:
● Enterococci score: <200 is Excellent; <400 is Good; <330 is Sufficient
● E. Coli score: <500 is Excellent; <1,000 is Good; <900 is Sufficient
Just three days ago, NBC reported on its broadcast during the Opening Ceremony that the E. Coli levels were “too high” that day. If the races were held that day, they would have been postponed.
There was a significant amount of rain during the opening ceremony and the rain continued through yesterday according to weather reports. This week looks a bit clearer, with some scattered rain expected Wednesday and Thursday.
Organizers had not created a backup plan for the open water and triathlon races until earlier this month. Plan B for the open water race is to have them held at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium just outside of Paris. The backup plan for the triathlon is to have it shortened to a duathlon.
I’m currently watching women’s kayak slalom. I’d like to see an open water swim conducted at this venue! Either direction!
This absolutely stinks for triathlon. Extremely poor planning. There has to be a location they could do this at. The disrespect continues at this games.
Why can’t they just do the 1.5km in the pool and then start the cycling in a stagger based off their swimming times? It’s not ideal but it’s much better than just cutting a third of the race. What if swimming was your best discipline?
A huge part of competitive short course triathlon is drafting and riding together on the bike. Doing a stagger start effectively turns it into a time trial
Going to need to shock it 😉
I am SHOCKED! Now way Paris OC could have ever seen this coming. Just bad luck I guess
Just to play devil’s advocate… I watched the Roth triathlon three weeks ago and they showed these pre-recorded interviews with the pros. One of the questions was “Which sport of the triathlon would you switch with another sport?”. All of them said “swimming”. So, my guess is that not too few of the participating triathletes would probably like it if the swimming portion was scratched.
Elite level triathletes are world class runners that can swim.
Several high level triathletes have competed at diamond league (akin to swimming’s World Cup) races. I don’t know if any professional triathlete could qualify for winter juniors
This is great, can’t wait for LA county to clean up the LA river for 2028 after this amazing success by Paris
This just SUCKS for the Tri athletes.
Looks like open water will be in the clear and they will move it to the rowing venue. And I know that most of the people competing in this are probably making their bread and butter off the IronMan competitions. But it just sucks.
Shame on Paris for not having thought this through the first time. And then not having thought it through the second time. And then when it came time for some sort of contingency plan, not having thought it through for the third time.
There’s a reasonable amount of money in Olympic distance triathlons for the top names in the World Triathlon Series… those who can pick up personal sponsorship in European markets can do well.