PARIS – Just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, the early rain in Paris had eased to a drizzle. That’s when 46 of the world’s fittest women climbed onto the Pont Alexandre III, descended the steps to a floating dock, and jumped into the Seine River, bacteria not a care in the world.
After years of planning, construction of a $1.5 billion sewage treatment tank system, months of tension, and a 24-hour delay to allow Mother Nature to do her best to clean up the recent sewage overflow, this elite group of Olympic distance triathletes accomplished something that has sickened almost everyone else for the past 100 years.
Was the river clean? Let’s just say it was clean enough and call it a day.
At 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Olympic organizers, representatives of local environmental agencies, the city of Paris and the Île-de-France regional government conducted tests showing the Seine River has not been functioning properly since torrential rains over the weekend flooded the opening ceremony and sent huge amounts of fresh sewage into the city’s waterways.
Unlike last week, when organizers canceled two training swims and postponed the men’s race by 27 hours, Kang passed the test this time around. But officials determined that the E. coli and Enterococcus levels were below the risk threshold for bacteria, viruses and other diseases set by health experts and the world governing bodies of triathlon and swimming for open-water events.
Swimmers finally entered the Seine River on Wednesday morning. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
So they set off, high-pitched beeps blaring, and hurtled through the murky, gray water. The most immediate danger of the day was the slippery pavement, which resulted in several falls as cyclists tried to avoid each other and navigate the sharp turns of what is arguably the most beautiful city course.
The Eiffel Tower and Grand Palais towered over the 1,500m swim. Triathletes cycled past the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée National d’Assemblée. The Arc de Triomphe came into view as they quickly ascended the Champs-Élysées during the seven loops that made up the 25-mile ride. And they hit many of the hot spots again during the 6.2-mile run.
This was one of the moments the organizers dreamed of when they first designed the plans for the Games 10 years ago. A competition in the heart of Paris, a video postcard of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
And I hope that no one gets sick from drinking or sprinkling that river water.
Taylor Neave of the United States said she suffered a cut and scab on her lower left leg after crashing during training over the weekend. She spent several days debating whether to take antibiotics before getting in the water. She decided not to.
She said she simply decided not to think about the pollution and just focus on the race. As she struggled to swim upstream, she thought, “I just want to get this over with.”
Her teammate Taylor Spivey said Tuesday that the real challenge was swimming upstream and into the current in the second leg of the first leg. She said it was the strongest current she had ever competed in, as triathlons are not usually held on rivers.
“It felt like I was on a treadmill,” she said.
All this came as no surprise to anyone involved in holding a race on the Seine. The Olympic organizers, the Parisian officials, the world triathlon leaders, they all wanted the race to take place in the heart of the city and in the race itself. The alternative would have been a lake outside the town. No one had imagined such a thing.
The Olympics are also often used as a way to release money for dream projects that usually never come to fruition. Officials have been talking about making the Seine swimmable for more than 30 years. The sewage project has become one of the Olympic legacies, and the organizers can point to it when asked if it is worth all the trouble to host.
Next summer, three swimming areas on the Seine will be open to the public. That’s the plan anyway, and there will be three more races on the river before these games are over.
Racing: Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, the Olympic champion, led a tight lead group by a mile after the swim. This segment is more about survival and inflicting a few injuries on the competitors than taking the lead. The cycling field was a little thinner, with Duffy sharing the lead with the Netherlands’ Maja Kingma, Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and hometown favorite Cassandre Beaugrand of France.
The way triathlons have evolved, but as more and more elite runners have moved into the sport and learned how to swim and cycle to get to the final leg, the race will always come down to running. After 82 minutes, Switzerland’s Julie Deron put on her running shoes and led the race into the final leg.
Beaugrand runs to victory on the Pont Alexandre III. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Spivey of the United States was the first competitor to slip from the back of the pack. Duffy and Taylor-Brown, who had to push harder on their bikes but couldn’t, dropped off at the end of the first loop, leaving the leading group of four separated from everyone else.
As is often the case, it produced brutal Olympic math. Four competitors, three medals, two French women, Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi, along with Britain’s Deron and Beth Porter, and the legs started to get sticky all over the course.
Deron ran fearlessly, leading on a calm, heavy morning with no headwind to worry about, her stride smooth and her shoulders steady. Beaugrand was on her shoulders with two miles to go, and Porter and Lombardi followed stubbornly as the bell rang for the final loop.
Then Bogrand made his move. One of the biggest questions, aside from Kang’s health, was whether racing in front of his home fans would inspire Bogrand or whether the pressure would become too much of a burden.
In the final mile, with thousands of flags waving and the noise of the city center growing louder, Bogrand ran without a doubt, 3 meters, 7 meters, 10 meters, 20 meters ahead, before he grabbed the tape at the finish line, put his face on it, and collapsed on the carpet. Deron took silver. Porter took bronze.
Alex Yee (right) sprints out of the Seine River to the next race, after claiming gold. (Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images)
In the men’s race, Britain’s Alex Yee won a stunning and dramatic gold medal. The 26-year-old upgraded the silver he won in Tokyo three years ago to gold, beating New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde and (of course) catching him in the middle of the run.
He became the second Briton to win an individual triathlon gold medal after Alistair Brownlee won back-to-back golds in London and Rio de Janeiro. France’s Leo Bergere won two multi-event medals in the host country.
Italy’s Alessio Crociani led the way after a power-sapping 1.5km stretch before the start of the six-lap, 40km bike race. Wilde surged forward on the second lap of the 10km run to put himself in a strong position for gold.
But in one of the most dramatic finishes to the race so far, Lee fought back to outpace Wilde at the entrance to the Pont Alexandre III, then slowed to a near-walk pace with just metres to go to claim the tape and Olympic glory.
“I have a lot of respect for Hayden and how hard he pushed me,” Yee said. “He was an incredible rider and I almost thought I was going to get silver after two laps, but it was my duty to give myself one last chance.”
Tuesday was a triumph for the hosts, but the Seine has a long way to go.
The river will host three more Olympic events, including a mixed triathlon relay and two long-distance swimming events.
At least that’s the stated program. Another heavy rain could turn the triathlon into a duathlon and send the swim race to the flat-water canoeing track east of the city.
It may be less flashy, but it may also be less polluted.
Ben Burroughs contributed reporting.
(Above photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
