The men's Olympic triathlon was postponed Tuesday morning on account of the levels of E. coli found in the Seine, rendering it too contaminated for swimming.Paris in anticipation of the Olympics spent $1.5 billion on cleaning up the river that flows through the heart of the city, including updating its sewage system that during heavy rainfalls overflows into the Seine and manufacturing an underground water treatment basin. Organizers, hoping sunshine will inactivate the bacteria despite the rainy forecast in the coming days, will measure again on Wednesday. If the levels are down to a contamination percentage that is deemed safe for swimming, the men will compete after the women’s triathlon earlier that day. Should the contamination levels remain high, the triathlon events will be held Friday. If it remains unswimable, the aquatics part of the triathlon will be scrapped.“Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are above acceptable levels,” World Triathlon wrote on social media. “Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes,” the statement said, referring to the organizers of the Games. The most recent monitoring data available, showing results of tests conducted July 17 to 23 (during which period there was heavy rain) shows E. coli levels spiked at the triathlon start and finish point, the Pont Alexandre III bridge, per NBC. Contamination was more than double the safe level for swimming under World Triathlon competition rules. Throughout the months leading up to the Games, routine monitoring indicated E. coli levels, which can lead to gastrointestinal issues, regularly spiked to unsafe levels, especially after heavy rainstorms. Triathlon training was cancelled Sunday and Monday, after the continuous rain the city saw throughout the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.“High bacteria means there’s too much poop in the water, and poop carries germs that make people sick,” Daniel Nidzgorski, a US ecologist told NBC. Swimming has been banned in the Seine for a century due to fecal contamination. There was widespread skepticism it could be cleaned up in time for the Olympic Games.
