- Title: Seine pollution safety fears lead to cancellation of Olympics swimming test
- Date: 6th August 2023
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (AUGUST 6, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FLOATING EQUIPMENT FOR PRE-OLYMPICS SWIMMING EVENT BEING DISMANTLED/ EIFFEL TOWER IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF FLOATING JETTY WITH ALEXANDER III BRIDGE IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF BOTTLE AND DEBRIS FLOATING IN RIVER VARIOUS OF FLOATING PLATFORMS FOR SWIMMING TEST EVENT VARIOUS OF DEPUTY MAYOR IN CHARGE OF PARIS 2024 ORGANIZATION, PIERRE RABADAN, ILE-DE-FRANCE REGION PREFECT PIERRE-ANTOINE MOLINA AND SENIOR SPORT CLUSTER MANAGER FOR PARIS 2024, BRIGITTE LEGARE HOLDING PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR SPORT CLUSTER MANAGER FOR PARIS 2024, BRIGITTE LEGARE, SAYING: "So, the event was cancelled because the World Aquatics is basing a decision to swim or not after heavy rain on the last 24 hours data, so when we got the results in the middle of the night, the data was just above the limit of 1000 E.coli that they are allowing so we need to be under that to allow the swim and we were above it so it was decided by the medical team of the international federation not to hold the competition for an athlete safety point of view." VARIOUS OF FLOATING PLATFORMS BEING DISMANTLED (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR SPORT CLUSTER MANAGER FOR PARIS 2024, BRIGITTE LEGARE, SAYING: "Next year there is three water tanks that will be operational that were not operational unfortunately for this year. One they will be operational, that would help us because, this week we had an historical week on a rain point of view, the city had five times what the city of Paris ever had in that period of the year so those water tanks would have made the difference and, unfortunately, they were not opened this year. But we see now the difference, we're not that far. Probably tomorrow the water tests will be perfect but it's an athlete safety first and we were not within the rules so that's how the decision was made." VARIOUS OF FLOATING PLATFORMS FLOATING PLATFORMS BEING LIFTED FROM THE RIVER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR SPORT CLUSTER MANAGER FOR PARIS 2024, BRIGITTE LEGARE, SAYING: "The athletes would have loved to be able to swim. The course is quite unbelievable but I would say, on an operational point of view, for us Paris 2024, we were able to practice and be really good and ready for the river now so we can set up a course really fast and dismantle the course really fast because we need to open and close it a lot of time in 2024. But unfortunately, for the athletes, they won't have a chance to use it this year so they will discover it next year when they'll come and train for the first time." WATER RIVER WITH FLOATING PLATFORMS AND EIFFEL TOWER IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF WORKERS DISMANTLING PLATFORMS PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) DEPUTY MAYOR IN CHARGE OF PARIS 2024 ORGANIZATION, PIERRE RABADAN, SAYING: "We are faced with an outdoor sport that is subject to the vagaries of climate and weather conditions, and that creates uncertainties that we're going to manage. Today, all the work wasn't finished in 2023. That's normal, since the Games are in 2024. And so, once the work is finished, we'll be able to regulate even exceptional phenomena like the one we're facing today. The guarantee will be made with the contingency days, all the infrastructures that will be delivered and that will enable us to regulate even exceptional episodes." VARIOUS OF PLATFORMS BEING LIFTED OUT OF THE RIVER BY CRANE WITH EIFFEL TOWER IN BACKGROUND EIFFEL TOWER
- Embargoed: 20th August 2023 09:52
- Keywords: Olympics Paris Paris 2024 Seine Sports Swimming
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Europe,Olympics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001264406082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A pre-Olympic swimming test competition scheduled for Sunday (August 6) in the Seine has been cancelled due to river pollution, World Aquatics, the international swimming federation, announced.
Friday's (August 4) training session had already been postponed and the women's race postponed from Saturday (August 5) to Sunday in the hope that bacteriological test results would improve. A week of persistent and heavy rain in the Ile-de-France region has caused sewers to overflow into the river.
Many of the facilities have been dismantled, but some remain in place for the Triathlon and Para Triathlon Test Event scheduled for August 17-20.
Heavy rain was known to be a threat and several projects to contain water after storms are being built in time for the games next year.
The river is due to be the stage for the triathlon and marathon swim during the Olympics.
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