水質問題視される中トライアスロン開催　英仏勢躍動　パリ五輪

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】パリ五輪は３１日、セーヌ川の水質問題で何日も懸念が続いていたトライアスロンがようやく行われ、男女ともに英仏勢が表彰台入りを果たした。（写真はパリ五輪、トライアスロン女子。トップでフィニッシュしたフランスのカサンドル・ボグラン）
　女子ではフランスのカサンドル・ボグランが金メダルを獲得し、２位にスイスのジュリ・デロン、３位に英国のベス・ポッターが続いた。
　セーヌ川の水質悪化で１日延期されていた男子では、英国のアレックス・イーがニュージーランドのヘーデン・ワイルドを最後の直線で逆転し、劇的な優勝を果たした。３位にはフランスのレオ・ベルジェールが入った。
　２６日の開会式が大雨に見舞われるなど３６時間で約１か月分の降水量があった中で、市の下水道システムが圧迫されて未処理の汚水が排出されたことで大腸菌レベルは急上昇していた。２９日から３０日にかけての夜にも雨が降り、日程が再度延期される恐れもあったが、下水からの排水はなかったという。
　男子２５位に入った南アフリカのジェイミー・リドルは記者団に対し、「後でトイレに行くのは間違いない」「何ガロンも水を飲んだから、レース後は楽しいパーティーになりそうだ」と冗談めかして話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/08/01-17:01）

France and Britain dominated the podiums in the Olympics triathlon on Wednesday, which finally began in the Seine after days of suspense over whether the river would be clean enough for racing.
Cassandre Beaugrand took the women's gold ahead of Switzerland's Julie Derron and Britain's third-placed Beth Potter.
In the men's competition, which had to be delayed by 24 hours after the Seine failed water tests, Alex Yee stormed to a dramatic victory by passing rival and friend Hayden Wilde from New Zealand in the final stretch.
Frenchman Leo Bergere finished third.
I started to find my legs with about 3k to go and I said to myself 'I'll give myself one last chance to make this happen', Yee told reporters of his late surge, adding that British legend Alistair Brownlee had shouted him on during the last lap.
All the attention during the build-up had been on the Seine, which was the centrepriece of a spectacular course that included a biking and running route through the historic heart of the French capital.
The Seine has been too dirty for swimming all week after Paris was deluged by rain during the opening ceremony of the Games on Friday, with the equivalent of a month's rain falling over 36 hours.
The storms overwhelmed the city's sewerage system despite a recent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) upgrade, leading to discharges of untreated waste water that sent E.Coli bacteria levels spiking.
Beaugrand said she never doubted that the swimming would go ahead despite warnings that it might be cancelled, which would have turned the triathlon into a duathlon of only cycling and running.
It would have been shameful for our sport... it would have been a disgrace, she told reporters afterwards.
- Strong currents -
After the competition was given the go-ahead at around 4am (0200 GMT), thousands of fans turned out to line the streets which were slippery and hazardous during the women's race after overnight showers.
Beaugrand was in contention from the start, remaining in touch with front-runner and defending Olympic champion Flora Duffy during the swim when many competitors reported being surprised by the strength of the river currents.
The UK-based 27-year-old had vomited before the start, finding comfort in words from fellow competitor Georgia Taylor-Brown from Britain, the silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, who helped settle her nerves.
She told me 'It's just a race, you can do it', Beaugrand, who grew up near Paris but moved to Britain in 2023, told French television.
After so much public debate about the water quality, Hayden said the currents were the biggest concern.
I watched the women's race beforehand and was like 'wow', he told a press conference.
- Storm threat -
The triathlon in the Seine followed by marathan swimming next week were both intended to highlight efforts made by French authorities to clean up the waterway, which has been off-limits for Parisian swimmers since 1923.
Due to an exceptionally wet spring and early summer, the Seine had been consistently failing tests until the start of July.
Levels of the E.Coli -- a key indicator of faecal matter -- had been 10 times higher than authorised triathlon limits on some days in June.
More rain had threatened to force another delay to the schedule overnight on Tuesday-Wednesday, but deputy Paris mayor Antoine Guillou told AFP that had been no discharges from the sewers.
The rain was quite light and low in quantity, Guillou, who is in charge of public sanitation, told AFP.
But water charity Surfrider said it remained worried that athletes began their triathlon race this morning at 8am even though it rained for several hours before the start, adding that it awaited the publication of full resullts.
I'm definitely going to be visiting the bathroom later, South African Jamie Riddle, who finished 25th, joked to reporters. I swallowed gallons and gallons of water, so that's going to be a fun, post-race party.