River Seine in Paris, July 29, 2024. Photo: X/ @ChipInSports

Paris, August 1 (RHC)-- Heavy rain in Paris over the weekend washed untreated sewage into the River Seine.  So, as the Olympic games began on Monday, poor water quality in the River Seine led to the cancellation of swimming training for the competitors in the Olympic triathlon in Paris for the second successive day.

The news comes after Sunday’s session also had to be cancelled after a drop in water quality following the heavy rain in Paris on Friday and Saturday.  The rain is thought to have washed untreated sewage into the river, which had previously seen improved cleanliness after a spell of dry weather.

On Monday, Paris 2024 organizers and World Triathlon said that the water quality was still below an acceptable level and that organizers wanted to “reiterate that the priority is the health of the athletes.”

“Tests revealed water quality levels that in the view of the international federation, World Triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held,” they explained.

The news comes just a day before the men’s triathlon is scheduled to be held and there is a very real chance the event may have to be postponed indefinitely.

Since 2016, French authorities have invested 1.4 billion euros to improve water quality and make it possible to swim in the Seine from the summer of 2025, something that has not been possible for a century.

On July 17, in a spectacle staged for journalists, the Mayor of Paris and the head of the Paris 2024 Games Organising Committee bathed in the Seine in an attempt to prove that it was safe to do so. On Friday, however, it emerged that the water did not meet the health conditions set by French authorities in 2023.