Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Have you seen some stuff about the Paris Olympics and how the River Seine is a venue that may not be healthy for swimmers to be in? And something about a poop protest? And you’re very confused about that whole thing? Don’t worry. We’re here to help.
That’s right, swimmers at the 2024 Olympics in Paris are supposed to be using the River Seine for certain events. But there are A LOT of questions about just how clean the body of water is.
Let’s break it all down.
Great question! I guess it’s because it would be cool for the city to use its iconic waterway for events like the triathlon and marathon swimming races.
Testing has shown high levels of E. coli in the water, and that bacteria is usually associated with … poop. Per The Athletic, those tests have been done with 28 days before the Games, and that would mean it would be unsafe for swimmers to perform in those waters.
Here’s more:
E. coli, along with enterococci, can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis when ingested. The latest findings marked the third consecutive week that samples from the river had unsafe levels of bacteria related to fecal matter.
Nope. It’s been illegal in Paris since 1923.
Paris spent a reported $1.5 billion (WITH A B!) to work on a solution, but heavy rains, er, flushed that plan down the toilet a bit. Sewage was washed in to the Seine and here we are.
The River Seine in Paris isn’t fit for bathing, data showed, with enterococci and E.coli bacteria concentrations well above legal thresholds. This comes a month before the Olympics, in which the landmark is meant to be one of the Games' swimming venues https://t.co/gYhtUy48fW pic.twitter.com/F70F9xLkda
— Reuters Sports (@ReutersSports) June 29, 2024
The French are so mad about hosting the Olympics that they planned to poop in protest pic.twitter.com/czcxQmnBu8
— The Daily Dot (@dailydot) June 26, 2024
OK so back on June 23, people were encouraged to go No. 2 in the river with French president Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo vowing to swim in the Seine themselves to prove it was safe. While we don’t know if people actually did it, the public proposed Parisian poop protest made headlines everywhere.
Good question. There’s been no official word on that … but you’d have to think that’s the case if it’s unsafe for competitors, right? It would be a massive disaster if the Olympics had to cancel events. So, stay tuned.
