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Paris Olympics test event canceled over Seine pollution

August 20, 2023

Water quality tests showed higher than acceptable levels of bacteria in the Seine River. It's the third time this month organizers have been forced to cancel a swimming event in the waterway.

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Boats on the River Seine travel past the Eiffel Tower
The French capital wants to make the Seine swimmable in 2024, as it was during the 1900 Paris OlympicsImage: Kyodo/picture alliance

The swimming stage of a triathlon test event ahead of next year's Olympic Games in Paris was called off on Sunday due to poor water quality in the River Seine, organizers announced.

An analysis of samples taken from the waterway showed higher than authorized levels of E. coli bacteria.

"As a precautionary measure and to protect the health of the athletes, the decision has once again been taken to cancel all the swimming races scheduled for today," the organizers said in a statement.

It was the third such cancellation in a month. A paratriathlon test event was canceled on Saturday, while the Open Water Swimming World Cup was abandoned earlier in August after heavy rain caused overflows of untreated waste into the Seine.

Triathletes dive into the River Seine in Paris
Triathlon swimming events took place in the Seine on Thursday and Friday before the water quality deterioratedImage: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images

Swimming in the Seine in 2024?

Paris officials are hoping to clean up the picturesque river so that open-air swimming events can take place there during next year's Olympic Games, which kick off on July 26.

To reach that goal, authorities have invested heavily in water-management projects geared towards reducing pollution from storm runoff.

Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, stressed there was no "Plan B" for the swimming events.

"There is no solution to move the event, the triathlon and open water swimming will be held in the Seine next year," he said. "The objective was to make the Seine swimmable in 2024."  

Paris cleans up the Seine ahead of the Olympics

nm/jcg (AP, Reuters, AFP)