MOSCOW, August 3, Andrey Simonenko. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach called the Olympic triathlon competitions on the Seine River sensational.
On Tuesday, the men's competitions scheduled for July 30 were postponed until Wednesday due to water pollution. The rain that fell in Paris on August 26 and 27 was cited as the reason for this. Earlier, the triathletes' training swim at the Games, which was supposed to take place on Monday morning, was cancelled due to polluted water in the Seine. Before that, training on Sunday was cancelled for the same reason.
At the end of Wednesday's competition, Canadian triathlete Tyler Mislawchuk vomited at the finish line of the Olympic distance. The triathlon tournament in Paris was held in 30-degree heat and consisted of a 1.5 km swim on the Seine River, a 40 km bike race and a 10 km run.
«The triathlon was sensational, or should I say «Seine-sational», I don't know if you understood me, but I tried,» Bach said at a briefing.
The Seine River has been closed to swimming since 1923 due to high levels of E. coli and other pathogenic bacteria. The city hall said that many treatment facilities and drainage systems were updated for the competition, with the cost of water purification measures amounting to about 1.4 billion euros. Water samples taken from the river at the end of June showed that it is safe to swim in the Seine.