High Seine levels delay Paris Olympics rehearsals again

PARIS – Organisers of the Paris Olympics, who are praying for fine weather during the 2024 Games, said on May 22 they had delayed plans for a rehearsal of the opening ceremony on the Seine for the second time because of the river’s high levels.

Following a stormy month of May that has seen regular downpours in the French capital, a rehearsal scheduled for May 27 has been cancelled – as was a previous one on April 8.

“It will take place when the weather conditions allow for it,” said officials in the local organising committee.

The Paris Games are set to open on July 26 with a boat parade on the Seine – the first time a Summer Olympics will begin outside the athletics stadium – under plans that are widely seen as high risk.

The Seine is also set to host the open-water swimming and triathlon during the July 26-Aug 11 Games, providing that pollution can be reduced to safe levels by the time athletes arrive in just over 60 days.

Officials have consistently warned that heavy rainstorms before or during the Games could overwhelm the Paris sewerage system, leading to discharges of untreated faecal matter into the waterway.

The latest available data – as collected by water charity Surfrider in the middle of May – showed levels of the E. coli bacteria more than four times the authorised level.

E. coli is a key indicator of the presence of human waste.

Paris authorities and Olympic organisers insist that new infrastructure, including a wastewater treatment plant and a rainwater storage facility, will be in operation by the time the Olympics begin.

Cleaning up the Seine is seen as one of the key legacy achievements of the Paris Games, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo promising three public bathing spots for locals in 2025.

A new poll released on May 21 delivered more worrying news for organisers, with the percentage of French people who say they plan to follow the Games falling significantly.

Only 51 per cent of people surveyed told pollster Harris Interactive that they planned to follow the sport – down eight points since January and a far lower rate than in other parts of the world.

A total of 71 per cent of respondents in Japan and South Korea said they would watch, while 68 per cent of Americans and the same number of fellow Europeans intend to enjoy it.

But Paris 2024 organisers remain confident that the “iconic” locations being used for sport around the French capital, as well as some domestic sporting success, will help generate enthusiasm and national pride once the event begins.

Meanwhile, French law enforcement officers arrested someone who was planning a violent action during the Olympic torch relay in Bordeaux, the interior ministry said on May 23.

“Thanks to the police officers and, more broadly, to all the ministry’s agents who are providing security for this popular celebration with remarkable professionalism and commitment,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X. AFP, REUTERS