NEW DELHI: French Sports activities Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera took a dip within the Seine, accompanied by para-triathlete Alexis Hanquinquant, who will carry the French flag on the Paralympics opening ceremony on August 28.
This swim has elevated optimism that the river shall be sufficiently clear for athletes collaborating within the Paris Olympics, set to start in lower than two weeks.
The Seine is about to take heart stage throughout the Olympics opening ceremony on July 26, climate circumstances allowing. It would additionally function the venue for the triathlon and open water swimming occasions.
Regardless of slipping whereas coming into the water, Oudea-Castera, clad in a physique go well with, managed to upstage Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, with whom she has a notoriously strained relationship. Hidalgo had beforehand introduced her intention to swim within the river on July 17, offered the water high quality met the mandatory requirements.
Oudea-Castera’s swim, which was solely captured by information channel BFMTV, occurred simply at some point after Paris metropolis corridor declared that the Seine has maintained a passable degree of cleanliness for swimming over nearly all of the previous 12 days.
In keeping with metropolis corridor official Pierre Rabadan, who spoke to broadcaster RFI, the water high quality has met the required normal for “11 days or 10 days” out of the previous 12.
The Paris area has skilled an unusually excessive quantity of rainfall in current weeks, which has contributed to elevated air pollution ranges within the Seine resulting from untreated sewage being washed into the river.
“We hope the climate will get a bit of higher, however we aren’t apprehensive about the potential for holding the competitions,” Rabadan mentioned. “They may happen.”
He added, nonetheless, that there could need to be “modifications”, with out giving particulars.
Climate in Paris is forecast to be principally dry over the ultimate 14 days earlier than the beginning of the Video games.
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