Men's Olympic Triathlon Cleared for Wednesday

Facts

• The men's Olympic triathlon has received clearance to be held on Wednesday after tests carried out in the Seine River revealed acceptable water quality levels. The event will now take place Wednesday at 10:45 am, after the women's triathlon.^[1]
• This follows uncertainty over when the event — originally scheduled for Tuesday — would be held after the river failed tests that were conducted early Tuesday morning.^[2]
• Triathlon swim training sessions were canceled consecutively on Sunday and Monday after heavy rain on Friday, which reportedly caused an increase in the levels of the hazardous E. coli bacteria in the river.^[3]
• The Seine had failed water tests through June, with E. coli levels up to 10 times higher than authorized limits. Organizers had indicated that the event could have been contested as a duathlon — cycling and running — had the river not passed the tests.^[4]
• Ahead of the Paris Olympics, over $1.5B was spent on a project to clean up the Seine that included creating a basin to capture rainwater and prevent wastewater from flowing into the river.^[5]
• Authorities also raised hopes that locals would be able to swim in the river once the Games were over. Two weeks ago, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the Seine River in front of reporters to showcase its improved cleanliness.^[6]

Sources: ^[1]Reuters, ^[2]World Triathlon, ^[3]Independent, ^[4]BBC News, ^[5]Daily Mail and ^[6]New York Times.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by POLITICO. Despite all the money invested to achieve the long-dreamed clean-up of the Seine River, athletes and even the general public had their suspicions about how clean its murky waters would be during the Games. Yet, the very prospect that the triathlon was even considered to be turned into a duathlon is a fiasco of Olympic proportions.
• Narrative B, as provided by France 24. Paris Olympics organizers did all they could to clean up the Seine River for the Games, but meteorological events that can affect water quality are beyond their control. Luckily, recently improved weather conditions made the water safe to swim in.