More riots in the Seine. Educational consultations planned in preparation for the open water swimming events have been canceled because the organizers have deemed the water “unsuitable for swimming. ” This is the fifth educational consultation canceled since the start of the Games. , the first four affect the triathlon, a discipline whose men’s event has been postponed one day due to contamination.
“The Seine is conducive to swimming and you can buy food. “This was stated by Anne Descamps, spokesperson for the Paris 2024 organizing committee, at the daily press conference at the Médiathèque de Paris, trying to reassure everyone after today’s training, in which preparation for the open water swimming events was also canceled. “On August 5, the concentrations of Escherichia coli were very low at the 3 sampling points. The tests were carried out and the water is suitable for bathing. At 6:30 a. m. ” In the morning the patterns were taken, the effects of the analyses arrived at 10:30 a. m. , and the prices of enterococci were between 242 and 378, so within the margins established for swimming,” Descamps continued, referring to a report from the World Triathlon Championships: “The concentrations of Escherichia coli and enterococci are very low, so the water is suitable for swimming. There is only one price above the threshold, but it refers to a point at which a pattern has been removed from the position of the race.
The foreign swimming and triathlon federations, Descamps recalled, “make decisions together on the adequacy of the water based on the concentration of E. Based on the effects of laboratory tests of samples taken 24 hours before the race, the decisions “are made with the required caution, and there will be tests there for the athletes to become familiar with the situations of the Seine, that the weather conditions are excellent. “
Following the case of the Belgian athlete with an Escherichia coli infection, the query of the adequacy of the water of the Seine remains, leading to the cancellation of today’s swimming training. The Belgian Olympic Committee has expressed doubts about the fitness of the river, revealing that one of its triathletes is “sick”. She is Claire Michel, an athlete who competed in the women’s triathlon last Wednesday, completing in 38th place, and who hospitalized this weekend at the Olympic Village clinic after falling ill.
The Belgian Olympic Committee provided important information about his condition, but local media reported an Escherichia coli infection. As a result, Belgium withdrew its team from the triathlon relay scheduled for Monday in Paris. “The Belgian Olympic Committee and the triathlon federation hope that the lesson will be learned before the upcoming triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games,” they said in a statement.
According to the organizing committee of the Paris Olympic Games, triathletes were informed of the investigation into the waters of the Seine before Monday’s medley relay, specifically that the regulatory grades were exceeded in one of the four investigation questions. After two educational sessions were canceled this weekend because the Seine was not clean enough, the foreign triathlon federation announced Sunday night that the race would go ahead.
“These effects were presented to the athletes and there was no objection from them to swimming,” OCOG spokesperson Anne Descamps said in a press conference. Generally, the decision to hold the race is made in the evening, a few hours before, based on analyzes carried out 24 hours before, as well as criteria such as the smell and appearance of the water and recent weather conditions. This formula only allows you to know with certainty after the occasion whether the water was suitable for swimming at the exact time of the occasion.
Since the start of the Olympic Games, four educational sessions have been canceled and the men’s triathlon race has been postponed by one day. In addition to the Belgian athlete, several triathletes have reported gastric problems, without establishing a link with swimming. The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (Sima) also spoke out on the issue, explaining that “despite the efforts made by the French management and the Olympic Committee to make the Seine suitable for swimming and authorize open water tests , the dangers to the health of athletes in the area At the 2024 Olympic Games, pollutants will be completely eliminated from rivers.
“The presence of fecal bacteria in river waters, such as Escherichia coli, can cause gastrointestinal infections in humans accompanied by symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting,” says Sima president Alessandro Miani. “Skin and eye infections can also occur due to contact with infected water, causing skin rashes and eye infections. Another life-threatening threat is leptospirosis, a disease caused by bacteria found in the urine of animals such as rats and mice: symptoms are accompanied by high fever, “exposure to chemical contaminants provided in river waters, such as heavy metals, insecticides or other substances whose destructive effects on health are not immediate but can be observed in the long term,” Miani concluded.