Despite regular alarm bells being rung in recent months regarding the water quality of the Seine – where triathlon and other swimming events will take place during the Paris Olympics – and the designation of an alternative swimming location last week, it all seems to have ended with a hiss. At least according to the city government, which indicates that the water quality has improved considerably in recent days and that ‘all races will take place for sure’.
Of the past 12 days, the water quality remained “ten or eleven” days within the specified requirements, according to the city government. “We are still hoping that the weather will get a little better, but we are not worried about the Olympic races. Those will continue,” official Pierre Rabadan told French broadcaster RFI on Friday. Remarkably, at the same time, Rabadan still indicated that adjustments are still a possibility for some races. What kind of changes he is referring to, he did not say. There had previously been several speculations about an Olympic duathlon instead of triathlon.
Paris spent as much as 1.4 billion euros last year to improve water quality in the Seine. Not all of the city’s residents are happy about this, as several Parisians have threatened to defecate in the river out of anger.
