Belgian athlete Jolien Vermeylen who competed in the Paris Olympics triathalon has said she 'felt and saw things I don't want to think about' while swimming in the River Seine.
Despite the water quality in the Seine being confirmed as finally at an acceptable level for the event to go ahead, several competitors were not impressed by the pollution.
Vermeylen said the water ‘didn’t taste like Coke or Sprite’ and admitted she was aware of the risk of getting sick.
‘While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.
‘The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls***!’
She added: ‘If the race hadn’t taken place, it would have been a disgrace for the organisation, for Paris, for France.'
by Metro-UK
2 comments
Though I sympathise with athletes who dedicate their whole careers for a singular event like this, only for it to be delayed due to bad planning and the arrogance of insisting to hold it in the Seine, I do have two qualms with this reaction:
A) if she had finished in the top 3, she would likely, like many winning athletes have until now, fawn over the setting of this win, ie the Seine river in Paris of all places. The poop she saw in the river would be eclipsed by being handed a medal on the riverbanks of the city of light.
B) take some steps backs and realise the immense subsidised privilege you are enjoying. The olympics, more often than not, consume more resources, especially public, than they generate. Very often this ends up in massive white elephants that are never used again, to the detriment of public finances: recent examples would be Greece and Brazil. All of this to showcsse and glorify sports that more often than not, are marginally popular at best. The way France has gone about it, temporarily redesigning public spaces, is not only better for environmental sustainability but also its fiscal situation. I think this is a model future olympic hosts should follow. This is just the first attempt at organising the olympics in this way in the uptil now megalomaniac 21st century, and it has had hiccups. The triathlon event being the main (if not only) one.
>the water ‘didn’t taste like Coke or Sprite’.
Yeah I’d be disappointed about that as well. Shame on you Paris!