Weather Becomes The Big Enemy Of The 2024 Paris Olympics Organizing Committee

JAKARTA - The organizing committee for the 2024 Paris Olympics believes the triathlon branch will continue as scheduled starting Tuesday, July 30, 2024, early in the morning local time, despite concerns about pollution in the Seine River.

Two swimming training sessions were canceled on Sunday (28/7/2024) and Monday (29/7/2024) due to water quality.

Heavy rain fell in Paris last week, affecting water quality and temperature, now expected to hit 34 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, as the men's triathlon race is scheduled to take place.

The men's triathlon is scheduled to take place at 08.00 local time. The final decision whether it will take place or will not be informed at 04.00 local time.

Meanwhile, the women's triathlon is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, and the mixed team competition on Monday, August 5, 2024.

Lambis Konstantinidis, Director of Operations at the 2024 Paris Olympics, said there are several reserve plans if the water quality is not good enough.

"One solution is to have a men's and women's match on the same day," he told BBC Sport.

"Another possibility is to use the spare days we've made in the program."

"We also have the possibility to see what we can accommodate when we do a mixed relay. But of course we couldn't do too much on the same day."

"It has been widely discussed that we are also considering the possibility of a two-tlon. However, for us this is a very, very extreme case."

"We haven't got there yet. We are confident that on Tuesday it will be a good day," said Konstantinidis again.

Meanwhile, swimming in the Sea River was banned for a century due to the quality of the water.

Testing in June 2024 still shows E.coli levels above the upper limit set by sports federations.

However, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, recently swam in the river to try to prove that the river was safe.

Earlier this month, testing showed that the river was clean enough to swim, but heavy rains in Paris on Friday and Saturday (26-27 July 2024) had caused its quality to decline.

Testing is carried out every day with readings on Monday (29/7/2024) showing the water quality is below the acceptable standard.

"All the water coming from the mountains now enters the city. This is not a problem in the city itself. This is all what happened before," said Konstantinidis.

"The trend we have is very positive for us for the future. We have at least two water quality tracking systems to ensure that everyone feels comfortable with water quality. If so, we will give the green light," he said again.

Former triathlon athlete and BBC commentator Annie Emmerson opened up about the problems in the River Seene. He said athletes wanted to get used to the track before the event.

However, the two-day training schedule had to be canceled by the host due to the quality of the water and current. However, Emmerson supported the decision to cancel the training session.

"The problem with the Seine River and where it is held is a strong current," he said.

"In terms of racing, if you go against the flow, you need to know where your best position is," said Emerson.

"Doing an introductory swimming when the water quality is not good and really falling ill before the event will be very detrimental to an athlete."

Looking for a solution

In addition to the triathlon, there are also open water swimming branches which will be held on August 7 and 8, 2024 on the cinema River. However, the committee has an alternative venue, namely Vaires-sur-Marne on the Marne River, east of Paris, if needed.

The problem is, triathlon swimming cannot be moved because it is the first part of three parts (cycling and running). That's why the option for a two-tlon, which will cancel the swimming part, is discussed.

However, the option of turning into a dual is the worst and last option. Now, the hosts believe that everything can still run on schedule.

The local Meteorology Agency estimates that thunderstorms will occur on Tuesday (30/7/2024) night after hot weather throughout the day.

High temperatures and humidity occurred in Paris for several days which peaked on Tuesday (30/7/2024).

This is fairly positive in terms of making the quality of the Seine River at a safe limit.

"In the triathlon case, heat has a positive effect due to sunlight and an increase in temperature is beneficial in the sense of killing bacteria," said Konstantinidis.

"This makes the water temperature higher and allows us to achieve the performance we need."

"This happened in previous weeks. We always have good weather and very good measurement trends. So, we hope this will happen this week," he said.

On the one hand, the hot weather helps improve the quality of the SEEne River water, but on the other hand it causes problems for athletes and spectators.

Paris and its surroundings on Monday, July 29, 2024, even reached a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius and is expected to last the next few days.

Therefore, the organizers have prepared other emergency plans for each sport and venue.

Some sports, for example, have certain temperature thresholds that require matches to not be continued if the temperature exceeds these thresholds.

More than 300 additional showers have been installed in Paris and there will be access to the shady area at the venue.

"It is important for people to prepare. Currently, no matches are planned to be postponed for a while," said Konstantinidis.