Water Quality Concerns Halt Paris Olympics Swimming Test in Seine

FILE - Athletes dive and swim in the Seine river from the Alexander III bridge on the first leg of the women's triathlon test event for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - Athletes dive and swim in the Seine river from the Alexander III bridge on the first leg of the women's triathlon test event for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
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Water Quality Concerns Halt Paris Olympics Swimming Test in Seine

FILE - Athletes dive and swim in the Seine river from the Alexander III bridge on the first leg of the women's triathlon test event for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - Athletes dive and swim in the Seine river from the Alexander III bridge on the first leg of the women's triathlon test event for the Paris 2024 Olympics Games in Paris, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Another Paris Olympics test run in the Seine River was canceled on Saturday because of concerns about water quality, in a fresh blow to Games organizers and the city’s ambitions to reopen the iconic river to public swimming.
Triathlon swimmers took to the Seine in competition on Thursday and Friday, but results of water quality tests showed “significant discrepancies” in the hours leading up to Saturday’s scheduled paratriathlon events, organizers said in a statement. The competition was transformed into a duathlon of just running and biking, The Associated Press reported.
Water safety officials are trying to determine why two testing systems used for the river produced different results. One indicated too-high levels of bacteria overnight, said Pierre-Antoine Molina, who oversees public policy for the Paris regional administration. Rainfall in recent days may have been a factor.
A previous test event had to be canceled this month because heavy rain caused overflows of untreated waste in the Seine, leaving water quality below safety standards. Rainfall also hit Paris ahead of Saturday’s cancellation.
Paris is spending massively on water-management projects that officials say will make pollution caused by storms less frequent.
Olympics organizers remain undeterred in their mission to hold open-air swimming events along the picturesque river, viewing this month's cancellations as a learning experience.
The head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, Tony Estanguet, said a contingency plan will be in place next year to allow swimming events to be postponed for a few days if water quality isn't up to standard.
But there's no plan B for moving the competition.
"We will remain in this extraordinary location, no matter what happens,'' said Estanguet, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in canoe slalom. ‘’We want to preserve this ambition.''
The plan for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to swim in the Seine dovetails with city hall's efforts to clean up the long-murky waterway. Paris has promised more transparency about its cleanup efforts than Rio de Janeiro, where concerns about sewage-contaminated water dogged the 2016 Olympics.
This week's triathlon takes athletes and spectators — watching for free — to some of the French capital’s most striking vistas: The swim starts from the bottom of the 19th-century Alexandre III bridge and its golden statues. The bike and run laps go along the Champs-Elysees and through some prestigious neighborhoods.
New tests will be conducted and a decision will be made early Sunday on whether Sunday’s swimming events can be held as scheduled, organizers said.



Gauff Beats Pegula at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 3, 2024 Coco Gauff of the US celebrates winning her women's singles group stage match against Jessica Pegula of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 3, 2024 Coco Gauff of the US celebrates winning her women's singles group stage match against Jessica Pegula of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
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Gauff Beats Pegula at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 3, 2024 Coco Gauff of the US celebrates winning her women's singles group stage match against Jessica Pegula of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 3, 2024 Coco Gauff of the US celebrates winning her women's singles group stage match against Jessica Pegula of the US REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel

Coco Gauff enjoyed a successful start by beating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2 in an American matchup at the WTA Finals on Sunday.
Second-seeded Iga Swiatek rallied to beat Barbora Krejcikova 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in her first match in two months.
Gauff converted five of her eight break-point opportunities to win her opening match at the year-ending tournament for the top eight ranked players.
“I thought we both were playing high level,” The Associated Press quoted Gauff as saying. “I just think I was able to break through on the more important points.”
Gauff will face Swiatek on Tuesday with the winner taking control of the Orange Group. Pegula will next face Wimbledon champion Krejcikova.
Swiatek, who arrived at the WTA Finals with a new coach, hadn’t played a match since losing to Pegula in straight sets in the US Open quarterfinals in September.
“Even though I played a lot of those (practice) matches, I kind of forgot for a while how it is to feel all those things, a bit different stress and emotions," Swiatek said. "For sure, I needed some time to adapt. The most important thing was that even though it happened, I managed to fight through that. And was patient enough to wait to get better.”
Swiatek rallied from 3-0 down in the second set to turn it around against Krejcikova, who has been hit by injuries and had played only 29 matches coming into the finals. Seven of them were victories at Wimbledon.
On Saturday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka eased to a straight-set victory over Zheng Qinwen in the opening match of the finals in Saudi Arabia. Fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy beat fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina in the other Purple Group match.