Olympic Triathlon Delayed Because of Seine River Water Quality
2024-07-31
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1The organization supervising the Olympic triathlon event at the Paris Olympics has postponed the event because of water quality in the Seine River.
2However, World Triathlon and city officials are hopeful the event, which includes swimming, bicycling, and running, can start on July 31.
3World Triathlon is the sport's governing body, overseeing competitions and safety.
4Its technical and medical team met with the International Olympic Committee, and city and local French government officials.
5They decided to postpone the event because of water quality.
6Tests in June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria although results in July showed improvement.
7Dr. Nicole Iovine is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
8She said while most kinds of E. coli are not harmful, high numbers can be dangerous.
9The presence of E. coli is a sign that human and animal waste is in water.
10The World Triathlon Federation considers E. coli levels higher than 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters to be unsafe.
11Swimming in water with unsafe levels of bacteria can lead to feeling sick to the stomach and intestinal problems.
12Swimmers are likely to swallow water, which can lead to diarrhea.
13The bacteria can also infect the urinary tract or open cuts.
14Iovine said, "The athletes are young, and they're in the best shape of anybody...But that doesn't mean they can't get sick from these things."
15Officials are hoping for sunny weather.
16The ultraviolet light in sunlight can kill bacteria and higher temperatures bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the river water to within safe limits.
17French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news media on Monday that officials are "absolutely serene about all this."
18She said plans put in place to control the bacterial levels in the river have worked, but the weather was beyond their control.
19Swimming in the Seine River has been banned for more than 100 years.
20But Olympic officials wanted to have the swimming part of the triathlon event in the city's famous waterway.
21So, Paris officials spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine.
22Paris is an ancient city.
23And like many old cities, it has what is known as a combined sewer system.
24That means the city's wastewater and storm water flow through the same pipes.
25When heavy rainfall happens, the pipes carry the extra "storm water" along with wastewater into the river instead of a sewage treatment center.
26As a result, untreated human waste goes directly into the river after heavy rains.
27Iovine said bacteria, viruses and parasites get into the water through human waste. But other things too.
28"It's also wildlife - rodents, for example. When it rains a lot, all of that from those animals can end up in the Seine," she said.
29To prevent the wastewater overflow, Paris officials built a huge basin next to the Austerlitz train station.
30It is supposed to capture extra rainwater to keep waste from flowing into the river.
31They also rebuilt parts of the sewer system and improved water treatment centers.
32However, heavy rain can still overwhelm the system.
33The rain that took place during the weekend of the Olympic opening ceremonies filled the basin by 20 percent.
34So, officials said the pollution was likely coming from wastewater upstream.
35If the water quality does not improve, officials are considering holding the event on August 2.
36I'm Caty Weaver.
1The organization supervising the Olympic triathlon event at the Paris Olympics has postponed the event because of water quality in the Seine River. 2However, World Triathlon and city officials are hopeful the event, which includes swimming, bicycling, and running, can start on July 31. 3World Triathlon is the sport's governing body, overseeing competitions and safety. Its technical and medical team met with the International Olympic Committee, and city and local French government officials. They decided to postpone the event because of water quality. 4How does water quality affect health? 5Tests in June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria although results in July showed improvement. 6Dr. Nicole Iovine is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She said while most kinds of E. coli are not harmful, high numbers can be dangerous. The presence of E. coli is a sign that human and animal waste is in water. The World Triathlon Federation considers E. coli levels higher than 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters to be unsafe. 7Swimming in water with unsafe levels of bacteria can lead to feeling sick to the stomach and intestinal problems. Swimmers are likely to swallow water, which can lead to diarrhea. The bacteria can also infect the urinary tract or open cuts. 8Iovine said, "The athletes are young, and they're in the best shape of anybody...But that doesn't mean they can't get sick from these things." 9Officials are hoping for sunny weather. The ultraviolet light in sunlight can kill bacteria and higher temperatures bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the river water to within safe limits. 10French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news media on Monday that officials are "absolutely serene about all this." She said plans put in place to control the bacterial levels in the river have worked, but the weather was beyond their control. 11Why is the Seine River polluted? 12Swimming in the Seine River has been banned for more than 100 years. But Olympic officials wanted to have the swimming part of the triathlon event in the city's famous waterway. So, Paris officials spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine. 13Paris is an ancient city. And like many old cities, it has what is known as a combined sewer system. That means the city's wastewater and storm water flow through the same pipes. When heavy rainfall happens, the pipes carry the extra "storm water" along with wastewater into the river instead of a sewage treatment center. As a result, untreated human waste goes directly into the river after heavy rains. 14Iovine said bacteria, viruses and parasites get into the water through human waste. But other things too. 15"It's also wildlife - rodents, for example. When it rains a lot, all of that from those animals can end up in the Seine," she said. 16To prevent the wastewater overflow, Paris officials built a huge basin next to the Austerlitz train station. It is supposed to capture extra rainwater to keep waste from flowing into the river. They also rebuilt parts of the sewer system and improved water treatment centers. However, heavy rain can still overwhelm the system. 17The rain that took place during the weekend of the Olympic opening ceremonies filled the basin by 20 percent. So, officials said the pollution was likely coming from wastewater upstream. 18If the water quality does not improve, officials are considering holding the event on August 2. 19I'm Caty Weaver. 20Pat Graham, Kate Brumback, and Devna Bose reported for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted them for VOA Learning English with additional AP material. 21________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23unit -n. one amount of something 24urinary tract -n. (medical) the tubes that carry liquid waste from the kidneys out of the body 25serene -adj. peaceful and untroubled 26sewer -n. pipes used to carry wastewater 27basin -n. an area or container that holds water 28upstream -adj. the part of a river or stream that is closer to the source (opposite: downstream) 29We want to hear from you. 30Our comment policy is here.