03:46The Paris Games Executive Director of Sports Aurelie Merle said she was 'hopeful' the Olympic triathlon could still go ahead a day later than planned, as she faced an intense media backlash over the levels of pollution in the River Seine.
"If the water isn't safe today, how can it be safe tomorrow?" she was asked.
"We know that the sun and the heat have a very strong impact on the quality of the water, and that's why we feel because we're so close this morning that we can hopefully believe that tomorrow morning the water quality will be better," she replied.
The first open-water race, the men's triathlon, was scheduled for Tuesday but moved to Wednesday. Merle was also questioned about whether the Games was putting Paris before the health of the athletes.
"We're living in the 21st century where unfortunately, there are far more meteorological events that happened that are beyond the control of the organisers," she claimed. "We've seen in previous editions of triathlon competitions that some of the events have been moved to a duathlon because it's complex at the moment. We've seen that we go from heavy rain to extreme heat like today in very few days, so it's actually hard to control how it can affect the quality of the river."
Asked why she kept saying that she was so 'confident' that the event would happen at all, she added that the plans the city had put in place 'could work'.
"It seems that the amount of rain that really fell over the past Friday and Saturday was really, truly important and especially before the arrival into Paris and that's why it's taking a bit longer to see the effects of that," she said.
Training sessions for the triathlon have also been cancelled in recent days following reviews of the water quality, which representatives from Paris 2024 and the international triathlon federation said did not provide a safe environment.
The River Seine was the focal point of Friday's opening ceremony, with athletes parading on boats despite heavy rain. Just two weeks ago, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo swam in the river as part of efforts to showcase the pollution clean-up, despite tests back then reporting that the water quality remained unsafe for humans during periods of heavy rain.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over 100 years due to the pollution, but the Paris Games invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the clean-up. It includes a giant underground water storage basin, renovations to the sewers and upgrades to wastewater treatment. The Summer Games take place from July 26-August 11.
Oh, merde! Paris Sports director's media sh*tstorm as triathlon postponed over River Seine pollution
The Paris Games Executive Director of Sports Aurelie Merle said she was 'hopeful' the Olympic triathlon could still go ahead a day later than planned, as she faced an intense media backlash over the levels of pollution in the River Seine.
"If the water isn't safe today, how can it be safe tomorrow?" she was asked.
"We know that the sun and the heat have a very strong impact on the quality of the water, and that's why we feel because we're so close this morning that we can hopefully believe that tomorrow morning the water quality will be better," she replied.
The first open-water race, the men's triathlon, was scheduled for Tuesday but moved to Wednesday. Merle was also questioned about whether the Games was putting Paris before the health of the athletes.
"We're living in the 21st century where unfortunately, there are far more meteorological events that happened that are beyond the control of the organisers," she claimed. "We've seen in previous editions of triathlon competitions that some of the events have been moved to a duathlon because it's complex at the moment. We've seen that we go from heavy rain to extreme heat like today in very few days, so it's actually hard to control how it can affect the quality of the river."
Asked why she kept saying that she was so 'confident' that the event would happen at all, she added that the plans the city had put in place 'could work'.
"It seems that the amount of rain that really fell over the past Friday and Saturday was really, truly important and especially before the arrival into Paris and that's why it's taking a bit longer to see the effects of that," she said.
Training sessions for the triathlon have also been cancelled in recent days following reviews of the water quality, which representatives from Paris 2024 and the international triathlon federation said did not provide a safe environment.
The River Seine was the focal point of Friday's opening ceremony, with athletes parading on boats despite heavy rain. Just two weeks ago, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo swam in the river as part of efforts to showcase the pollution clean-up, despite tests back then reporting that the water quality remained unsafe for humans during periods of heavy rain.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over 100 years due to the pollution, but the Paris Games invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the clean-up. It includes a giant underground water storage basin, renovations to the sewers and upgrades to wastewater treatment. The Summer Games take place from July 26-August 11.
The Paris Games Executive Director of Sports Aurelie Merle said she was 'hopeful' the Olympic triathlon could still go ahead a day later than planned, as she faced an intense media backlash over the levels of pollution in the River Seine.
"If the water isn't safe today, how can it be safe tomorrow?" she was asked.
"We know that the sun and the heat have a very strong impact on the quality of the water, and that's why we feel because we're so close this morning that we can hopefully believe that tomorrow morning the water quality will be better," she replied.
The first open-water race, the men's triathlon, was scheduled for Tuesday but moved to Wednesday. Merle was also questioned about whether the Games was putting Paris before the health of the athletes.
"We're living in the 21st century where unfortunately, there are far more meteorological events that happened that are beyond the control of the organisers," she claimed. "We've seen in previous editions of triathlon competitions that some of the events have been moved to a duathlon because it's complex at the moment. We've seen that we go from heavy rain to extreme heat like today in very few days, so it's actually hard to control how it can affect the quality of the river."
Asked why she kept saying that she was so 'confident' that the event would happen at all, she added that the plans the city had put in place 'could work'.
"It seems that the amount of rain that really fell over the past Friday and Saturday was really, truly important and especially before the arrival into Paris and that's why it's taking a bit longer to see the effects of that," she said.
Training sessions for the triathlon have also been cancelled in recent days following reviews of the water quality, which representatives from Paris 2024 and the international triathlon federation said did not provide a safe environment.
The River Seine was the focal point of Friday's opening ceremony, with athletes parading on boats despite heavy rain. Just two weeks ago, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo swam in the river as part of efforts to showcase the pollution clean-up, despite tests back then reporting that the water quality remained unsafe for humans during periods of heavy rain.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over 100 years due to the pollution, but the Paris Games invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the clean-up. It includes a giant underground water storage basin, renovations to the sewers and upgrades to wastewater treatment. The Summer Games take place from July 26-August 11.