In 2015, Paris was chosen to host this year’s summer Olympic games.
Following the announcementg, the city made a promise they could not keep – to hold the marathon swimming and triathlon events in a cleaned Seine.
Paris uses a combined sewer system, meaning that stormwater and wastewater share the same pipes.
When those pipes reach capacity, sewage flows into the Seine rather than a treatment plant. In other words, for a century, that river has been contaminated with feces. poop.
I also want to add, aside from a few exceptions, swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923 due to its extreme pollution levels.
Ahead of the games, the city outlined a 1.5 billion dollar plan to get the river’s water quality up to standard in time for the Olympics.
My gripe with Paris’ promise does not stem from the amount of money the city is pumping into the river; improving water quality in any manner is a huge positive. My disapproval of this empty promise is the negative impact it has on athletes and Parisian citizens.
Since their bid in 2015, Parisian officials have insisted the Seine would be event ready in time for the Olympics – even going as far to say that there is no backup plan.
However, if the water quality is not up to standard before the events run, the Paris games will move the marathon swimming event to an indoor stadium and the triathlon will run as a duathlon, dropping the swimming portion of the sport.
In the case of a triathlete, dropping a portion of the sport they have dedicated their lives to completely discredits their years of work. It also disrupts the way they compete in it.
On July 30, three hours before the event, the men’s triathlon trial was postponed due to unsafe water quality in the Seine.
While the triathlon events ended up being held in the Seine, it is disrespectful that the athletes did not know if they would be com- peting that day or if the swimming portion would be dropped.
Paris had not hosted the Olympics in a century. Since the 1924 games, Paris has become one of the most romanticized places in the world – an image the city would want to uphold.
While having events take place in the heart of the city undoubtedly feeds into that romanticized image, athlete safety should without a doubt take priority over that.
Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, promised to swim in the river to prove it is safe to do so. She took a dip in a wetsuit that covered most of her skin- compared to the revealing attire athletes compete in.
On July 15, bacteria levels in the Seine barely cleared regulated levels and officials have been monitoring water quality daily.
Let’s say the river continues to be eligible to compete in on the day of each event, why should these athletes be forced to compete in water that barely meets the standard.
Parisians have been advocating for decades that the Seine needed to be cleaned. Now that the world’s eyes will be on Paris, a billion dollars has been shed to clean the river.
A ‘Shit in the Seine’ protest took off ahead of Hidalgo’s dip in hopes to voice the citizen’s disdain of their governments spending habits.
Yes, citizens will get to reap the benefits following the games. However, will it take hosting another games for Paris to take other major problems in their city seriously?
If Paris hosts an Olympic games every 100 years, their air-pollution, homelessness and inequality issues will also be backed by billions of dollars by 2324.
The Olympics are a rich tradition that unites the world. But I hope host cities in the future use Paris as an example to not make promises they cannot keep as it negatively affects the people who enjoy the games the most.
