One day after the men’s triathlon event was delayed at the 2024 Paris Games, both the men’s and women’s triathlon events were allowed to begin on Wednesday.
The men’s triathlon event was pushed back after Olympic officials detected E. coli in the Seine River on Tuesday. The postponement came following assurances that the Seine River would be safe for participants.
Aurélie Merle, executive director of sports for Paris 2024, told reporters that the decision to postpone on Tuesday was made after conducting four river tests and finding that three of the tests indicated unsafe pollution levels. She suggested that rain from July 26 and 27 caused poor water quality in the Seine.
Even with storms in the Paris area late Tuesday, bacteria levels in the Seine dropped to acceptable levels Wednesday morning.
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Wednesday morning, French star Cassandre Beaugrand claimed the gold medal in the women’s triathlon event. Beaugrand won with a total time of one hour, 54 minutes and 55 seconds. She spent 22 minutes and 32 seconds in the water.
The men’s triathlon competition got underway soon after the women’s event ended. Great Britain’s Alex Yee earned gold in the men’s event. Yee’s final time was 1 hour, 43 minutes and 33 seconds. He spent 20 minutes and 37 seconds swimming the Seine.
Swimming in Paris’ most famed waterway has been banned for over 100 years due to pollution from factory wastewater, sewage, and rain runoff.
However, the government has spent nearly $1.5 billion to prepare the Seine for the Olympics by fixing old pipes, limiting the amount of untreated wastewater going into the river, and building a wastewater and rainwater storage basin.
The triathlon involves a 1,500-meter swim, a 40-kilometer cycle and a 10-kilometer run. The Seine is also expected to be the site of next week’s marathon swimming event, which involves a 10-kilometer swim. There is also a mixed triathlon event scheduled for next week.
International Olympic Committee spokesperson Anne Descamps told reporters on Wednesday that she was “pleased” Wednesday’s events could commence, and that the IOC would be focused on making sure the river is ready for next week’s marathon swimming and mixed triathlon events.
