MOSCOW, July 31, Oleg Bogatov. The organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris showed complete disrespect for the athletes by failing to protect their health and allowing triathlon competitions to be held in the polluted Seine, said two-time Olympic champion as part of the USSR national hockey team Alexander Kozhevnikov.
On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) website reported that the Games organizing committee had received permission to hold triathlon competitions in Seine. It is stated that the latest water test results, received at 3:20 a.m. local time, were found to be compliant by World Triathlon, which will allow the competition to proceed. On Tuesday, the men's competition scheduled for July 30 was postponed to Wednesday due to water contamination. The reason for this was said to be rain in Paris on Friday and Saturday. Earlier, a training swim for triathletes at the Games, which was supposed to take place on Monday morning, was canceled due to contaminated water in the Seine. Prior to this, training on Sunday was also canceled for the same reason.
«How can you assess this — they are preparing suicide bombers, now many athletes will get sick,» said Kozhevnikov, commenting on the permission of the organizing committee of the Games to hold competitions in the Seine. «In any case, they will swallow this water, which contains so many parasites. The Seine has never been a clean river. What can you do, the organizers of the Olympics have already mocked the people to the end, now the triathletes. They are scum, what else can you say about them.»
«They have no respect not only for athletes, they have no respect for people, it's a pederastic bacchanalia. And you should ask comrade (IOC President Thomas) Bach — why they (the organizers) are so stubborn about this Seine. But he is in their company, this guy dressed so much that it's just a nightmare,» the agency's interlocutor emphasized.
The women's competition started at 9:00 Moscow time, the men's competition is scheduled to start at 11:45 Moscow time.
The Games are being held from July 26 to August 11. According to media reports, the level of E. coli contamination in the Seine exceeded the recommended limit on the day of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo's demonstration swim in the river that flows through the capital. Hidalgo swam in the Seine ahead of the Olympics to prove that the river was safe for competitions. The mayor was joined in the swim by Tony Estanguet, chairman of the Paris Organizing Committee, and Marc Guillaume, prefect of the capital region.