RIVER SERINE REMAINS UNSWIMMABLE FOR OLYMPICS


The Olympics is just around the corner this year the games are taking place in Paris so the city of light is brimming with excitement anticipation and bacteria .

France is set to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, The event will take place in Paris, marking the third time the city has hosted the Olympics, following the 1900 and 1924 games. The Olympics will begin on July 26, 2024, and run until August 11, 2024. The opening ceremony will take place on July 26, and the closing ceremony will be held on August 11. 

The river that flows through the city, Serine. It is heavily polluted but Paris promised to get it clean by the games but that hasn't happened so residents have decided to take it into their own hands they are threatening to defecate in the river to prevent the games taking place there.

Due to hosting two Olympic sports events in under 30 days the pollution levels in the river serine are still too high, recent water quality tests show levels of  E. coli bacteria are 10 times higher than the standards set by World Triathlon means athletes could risk getting diseases like gastroenteritis or skin conditions, making the river unfit for swimming. Less than one year ago athletes from across the world had dived into the serine  during a test Triathlon event some record not being able to see the end of their arm in the water

 French authorities have spent the last 10 years cleaning up the river by improving the sewage system and building new water treatment and storage facilities a project that has cost them EUR 1.4 billion but despite their efforts recent weeks of heavy rainfall coupled with an overwhelmed Wastewater network has left .

Election-embattled French president Emmanuel Macron and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo were scheduled to take a dip on 23 June to prove the Seine is safe for swimming.  This sparked the social media campaign #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin - politely translated to ‘I poop in the Seine on 23 June’.

Campaigners are protesting the reported €1.4 billion France has spent on cleaning up the river, the strain the Games will put on public transport and security, and the snap election called by Macron that has given the far-right National Rally party a boost.

Notably, both politicians backed out of the swim at the last minute, citing “political reasons”. But official water samples were taken from the river before 23 June - so the results can’t be blamed on excess effluent from dirty protests.

 

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