Paralympic triathlon races postponed due to water quality of the Seine
Two days of rain have once again wreaked havoc on the triathlon events at 2024
Rain and the resulting decrease in water quality have once again wreaked havoc on the schedule for the triathlon events in Paris – the men’s triathlon was postponed for a day for the Olympics, and now Paris 2024 organizers have been forced to change the Paralympic triathlon schedule again.
Earlier this week the schedule was changed to one-day of racing for the Para tri events, with all the races to take place today as opposed to an additional day on Monday, Sept. 2. Early this morning it was announced that all 11 medal events in the Para traithlons will be rescheduled to Sept. 2.
“The latest tests show a decrease in water quality in the river following the rain episodes over the last two days,” today’s announcement read. “As a result, the water quality at the competition venue on Sunday 1 September is not suitable for swimming and above the threshold established by World Triathlon. It has been decided to schedule all 11 Para triathlon medal events on 2 September. This is subject to the forthcoming water tests complying with the established World Triathlon thresholds for swimming.”
One of the goals of the Games was to “give the Seine back to Parisiens,” Aurelie Merle, the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics Executive Director Sport Competitions, said. According to today’s release, the organization achieved its goal.
The Paris 2024 organizers and French politicians invested heavily in the Seine cleanup both in terms of political capital and hard cash. Millions of Euros were invested on five different projects designed to increase the capacity of the sewage network that would reduce amount of pollution going into the river and make the water safe for swimming. There was also a new reservoir constructed to store and treat water from the river, and millions of Euros are being spent on connecting homes to the new sewage networks.
“Holding these competitions in the Seine is also symbolic of Paris 2024’s ambition: to make the Games spectacular but also responsible and purposeful,” the Games organizers wrote in a statement after the Olympics. “The efforts made under the Plan Baignade (Bathing Plan) by the State, the City of Paris and all the stakeholders involved for many years now in cleaning up the river have borne fruit, with the Games acting as an accelerator.”
Issues still arise, though, when it rains, which is what has affected the racing as water quality levels still decrease after it rains and the sewage systems aren’t able to handle the extra water.
Both World Triathlon and World Aquatics had set the acceptable levels for the triathlon and open water swim events as less than 1,000 CFU/ 100 ml for E. coli and less that 400 CFU/ 100 ml for enterococci. Most beaches in North America are closed if the E. coli levels are higher than 200 CFU/ 100 ml.