The French are angry with the bathing mayor.
The short version
- Frustrated French people are planning a salacious protest against the spending of money during the Paris Olympics.
- The campaign #jechiedanslaseinele23juin literally encourages people to defecate in the Seine.
- The Seine River is not yet clean enough for the Olympics, and the swimming portion of the triathlon may be canceled due to E. coli bacteria.
- Heavy rain has deteriorated water quality, and several swim tests have already been postponed.
While the French authorities are working hard to clean the Seine River TriathlonThe frustrated French are working against them – with real resolve.
The Seine has a reputation among Parisians for being very dirty, so the work to be done before the water quality is good enough to house the world's best athletes is not insignificant.
Cleaning is really expensive too.
Paris has so far spent at least 17 billion euros on the huge project to clean the Seine River so that it can be used for swimming competitions during the Olympics this summer.
Spending money is precisely the source of frustration for the French people who support the campaign #jechiedanslaseinele23junwhich in Norwegian means “I'm defecating in the Seine on June 23rd.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
Because campaign participants defecate in the entire Olympic swimming pool – literally.
“They put us in this filth, now they're going to bathe in our filth!” is the campaign slogan.
on Homepage For the campaign there is even a calculator to calculate it when You must do this at your place of residence, so that the remains arrive in central Paris by 12 noon on Sunday.
Sunday, June 23 has been announced as the day on which Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will bathe in the Seine to prove to everyone that it is clean enough for Olympic competition.
The Seine River is 776 kilometers long and extends across large parts of northern France, so there is great potential for participation from far and near.
There is a great deal of prestige that President Macron and Paris Mayor Hidalgo have in preparing the spectacular pool for the lighting of the Olympic Flame in the City of Lights on July 26.
But Sunday swimming has now been postponed, precisely because the river is not clean enough.
Just over a month before the Olympics, tests conducted by technology company Fluidion showed the water was still unsafe for swimming.
The long-planned swim test on June 7 also could not be held, because the river was not clean enough.
This is the level of bacteria coli bacteria And it's very high. Environmental organization Surfriders Foundation also says so Worrying Quantities of bacteria in the river.
Olympic president Tony Estanguet himself said he did not rule it out The swimming portion of the triathlon should be cancelled Due to poor water quality.
Scientists point out that excessive rainfall is the reason behind the poor water quality.
June was wetter than usual in the French capital. Heavy rain could lead to increased pollution in the Seine River, and authorities warn this could happen Overwhelm Sewerage system in Paris.
The organizers took the opportunity to know that the weather from July to August will be as usual: dry and hot.
The first Olympic event in the Seine is the men's triathlon, which involves a 1.5 km swim on the morning of 30 July.
The women's triathlon follows the next day, and the mixed relay on August 5.
Marathon swimming competitions over 10 kilometers for women and men are scheduled to be held on August 8 and 9, respectively.
– For me, it would be very disappointing and very embarrassing for France, Paris and the Olympics if we could not complete the triathlon, says French-born triathlete Jeanne Leher CNN.
Mayor Hidalgo confirms that she will continue to shower, but that will be after the important elections on July 7.
The new date has not been set, but the mayor hints at July 15, 16, or 17, and confirms that it will be before the opening ceremony.
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