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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Seine pollution forces cancellation of third Olympics test event

The swimming stage of a triathlon in Paris's Seine River was cancelled on Sunday due to pollution, organisers announced, raising further questions about holding competitions there during the 2024 Olympics.

Seine pollution forces cancellation of third Olympics test event
This photograph taken on August 19, 2023, shows a view of the Seine river with the Notre Dame Cathedral in the background, in Paris. Photo: Emmanuel DUNAND/AFP.

The mixed relay triathlon is the third pre-Olympics test event to be affected by excessive E. coli bacteria in the water, but organisers insist the Seine will be fit to host events next year.

The triathlon was changed to a duathlon only involving cycling and running after analyses of the water quality did not offer the “necessary guarantees”, said the Paris Olympics organising committee and governing body World Triathlon.

The same solution was reached for a para-triathlon test event on Saturday, while the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup was cancelled altogether earlier this month.

As organisers investigated the source of Saturday’s elevated E. coli readings Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris 2024 organising committee, stressed there was no “Plan B” for next year’s sporting extravaganza.

“There is no solution to move the event, the triathlon and open water swimming will be held in the Seine next year,” he insisted.

“From the start, we have remained on the same project, to organise the triathlon and para-triathlon in this extraordinary site. You have a beautiful setting between the Grand Palais, the Invalides, this Alexandre III bridge. This course, I believe, is unanimous.”

The cause of this impasse in the Seine remains the same: the concentration of Escherichia Coli (E. coli) bacteria in the river.

Storms, causing heavy rainfall leading to overflowing sewers spilling into the river, are not the cause, officials insist.

“An investigation is underway to find the cause of this degradation but, to date, we have not yet found an explanation,” Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of Sport and the Olympics told AFP.

“We missed out by very little,” said French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera. “It’s extremely encouraging, you have to see the glass half full. I repeat, we will be ready.”

‘Still being developed’

A triathlon has never been converted into a duathlon at the Olympics since its introduction at the 2000 Sydney Games.

“It would be a shame but we adapted to a duathlon this morning,” said Beth Potter, winner of the women’s race on Thursday and second in Sunday’s mixed relay with the British team.

“Hopefully by next year it will be okay. We saw that for the individual races it was okay, so hopefully it will be a triathlon.”

Britain’s Alex Yee, winner of the men’s race, added: “They are saying the water filtering is still being developed. So by next year it will be perfect.

“What they are doing is hugely historic, they are leaving a legacy after the Games. We can only applaud them.”

Local authorities are working to correct some 23,000 poor connections in private homes whose wastewater ends up in the river.

“We are a quarter of the way there,” said Oudea-Castera.

French world champion Leo Bergere said he had not “heard that athletes had come out sick” from the men’s race on Friday, the day on which the first below standard samples were taken.

“The objective was to make the Seine swimmable in 2024,” added Estanguet.

“This test comes along the way, the plan has not reached maturity. There are still great efforts, new means being deployed to improve the quality of the water in the Seine. As we have seen, it is improving month by month and will continue to improve.”

Olympic open water swimming has frequently been hit by pollution concerns.

At the end of the test event in 2019 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, swimmers protested against the quality of the water in Tokyo Bay.

At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the prospect of swimming in the polluted Guanabara Bay also made headlines.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

There will be no French fries but plenty of lentils on offer to athletes attending the Paris Olympics, with organisers unveiling a Games’ menu that combines eco-minded recipes with French gastronomy.

No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

The 3,300-seat restaurant at the Paris Olympic village, which will welcome athletes next month, was given its first test-run on Tuesday by a hungry crowd of sports figures, officials and journalists.

Based in a vast former power station, the food hall includes six dining areas offering meals from around the globe, with half of the 50 dishes available each day being 100 percent vegetarian.

“People are going to meet here in France, with its culture, its heritage but also its gastronomy and so there are expectations,” chief Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet told reporters.

Although many athletes would stick to their usual nutrition before competing, they will also be offered the chance to discover France’s famed food, with several Michelin-starred chefs taken on as advisors.

“We’ve allowed ourselves to put French gastronomy in pride of place so that curious athletes from around the world can try French culinary excellence,” Estanguet added.

The giant warm-food buffets will not include French fries, however.

McDonalds, a long-time Olympics sponsor, had its own fast-food restaurant in the Olympic village until the Rio Olympics in 2016, but athletes wanting a hit of junk food will have to look elsewhere.

“For technical reasons, we can’t offer fries,” said Estelle Lamotte, deputy director of village catering at food group Sodexo, told reporters.

She explained deep-fat fryers were not allowed in the temporary kitchens at the site, which is usually used as a film studio.

Gregoire Bechu, head of sustainable food at the Paris organising committee, stressed the quality of the ‘delicious’ lentil dahl recipe that has been developed for athletes.

“One of the major commitments by Paris 2024 was offering vegetarian meals in order to halve the carbon footprint of each meal on average,” he said. “We wanted vegetarian meals everywhere.”

At sports venues, 60 percent of food offered to fans will be vegetarian and the temporary stadium hosting skateboarding, BMX and breakdancing at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris will be entirely meat-free.

In a further bid to lower carbon emissions, only two of the six restaurant areas at the village will be air-conditioned, with the rest in outdoor courtyards sheltered by fabric sun shades and ventilated with overhead fans.

Tuesday’s test event, held under fierce sunshine and in 27C heat, saw some people visibly sweating.

“I think we’ve found a good compromise between offering the right temperature but also reducing our carbon emissions,” Estanguet said. “It’s one of the main challenges of the Paris 2024 edition.”

In a break from Olympic tradition, the 2,800 apartments at the village do not come with air-conditioning as standard.

But many Olympic teams have decided to install portable coolers at their own cost.

Paris has suffered a number of record heatwaves in recent years with temperatures peaking above 40C in July and August, but 2024 has so far been wet and cool.

The Paris Olympics run from July 26th to August 11th, followed by the Paralympics from August 28th to September 8th.

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