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STORY: :: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo says she is ‘very happy’ as Olympic triathlon events are held in the River Seine

:: July 31, 2024

"We won our bet - the pollution has been cleaned up. Of course, we had to then see if all the resources, all the infrastructure that allow us to maintain a good water quality in the Seine were functioning and they did function. By the way, if the infrastructure wasn't built, we couldn't have had people swimming this morning because of the storms that took place these past few days. And so, we really are very happy. And topping that off with a gold medal for France in the women's (triathlon), as (IOC head) Thomas Bach said, that's the icing on the cake."

"No, I wouldn't say I'm relieved at all, that's really not the word I would use. I'm happy - relieved means we had fears that we would not succeed. I never thought we would not succeed."

The triathlon, a central showpiece of the Games, started and finished at the Alexandre III bridge at the heart of the French capital, taking athletes along a section of the Champs-Elysees and past more Parisian landmarks including the Musee d'Orsay.

The races going ahead will have come as a relief for teams and athletes, as well as for Paris authorities who have promised residents a swimmable Seine as a long-term legacy of the Games, with the triathlon a very public test.

France's Cassandre Beaugrand won gold in the women's triathlon at the Olympics on Wednesday, cheered on by a delighted crowd as the hosts' gamble to hold the swim stage of the race in the Seine paid off.

The men's triathlon had been scheduled to take place on Tuesday (July 30) but, after the river failed water quality tests, it was postponed to 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) on Wednesday, immediately after the women's race.