“Polluted”. Triathlon at risk –

With just a few days to go, the 2024 Olympics have already been dubbed the Olympics of controversy. If for hours the discussion on the opening ceremony seasoned with woke sauce and, in particular, on the revisitation of the Last Supper (or symposium with Dionysus) has dominated the scene, now the waters of the Seine are making noise. Triathlon races are at risk due to the excessive level of pollution of the river’s waters. After the decision made last night – the meeting was held at 3:30 am – which postponed the men’s race to 10:45 am tomorrow morning (instead of 8 am this morning), there is doubt in the triathlon environment that the race can regularly take place tomorrow in the three disciplines, swimming, cycling and running.

The women’s triathlon is scheduled for tomorrow, starting at 8:00 a.m. Further tests on the quality of the water in the Seine are scheduled for today. Both the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes. “A mockery.” Gregorio Paltrinieri did not mince his words when describing the decision of the Paris Olympic Committee to have the swimming competitions take place in the Seine. Despite the enormous efforts made to clean up the river in the French capital and the cleaning demonstration by diving carried out by Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the levels of water pollution remain high.

“We are worried. But only because there is a location that we have never tried. You cannot organize such an important race in a location that you have never tested. Probably cold, probably there is current because it is a river. Most likely dirty because there are no conditions for swimming but I am almost sure that they will do it there because they have invested too much in it. So it seems a bit of a joke to me”, declared the athlete.