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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