“It’s hard to clean the Seine, but the organizers attracted more spectators to the triathlon in the center of Paris” – ex-coach of the Russian national team

It is very difficult to completely clean a river like the Seine, but the decision of the Olympic organizers to hold competitions in the river in the center of Paris is logical because of the large number of spectators, former head coach of the Russian national team Dmitry Butkov told .

The first competition in the waters of the Seine takes place on July 31. On Wednesday, Frenchwoman Cassandra Beaugrand won Olympic gold in the triathlon. Then began the men’s competitions in this type of program. Earlier, the International Olympic Committee had moved the date of the tournament from July 30 to 31 due to the unsatisfactory quality of the water in the Seine.

— Let’s leave the sewage treatment plants on the conscience of the organizers. Of course, I would like the rivers of big cities to be clean, but it is very difficult to do. But that’s how it is, that’s why the organizers organized it in the Seine.

“We could have, as a first step, chosen another, clean body of water to host the Olympic triathlon competitions.

— It is better for triathlon competitions to be held in city centres in order to attract more spectators. There is an example of the Olympic competitions in London, in Hyde Park, where there were a million spectators. It was an absolute record for any sport. No sport has ever been watched by a million spectators in person at the same time. Triathlon is more popular in France than in the United Kingdom. It makes sense that the organisers wanted to hold these competitions in the centre of Paris.

We also swam in the centre of Hamburg, where the water was not very clean. A year before the start of the 2016 Olympics, we were in Rio de Janeiro – there was cloudy foam and plastic bags floating around. Everything was cleaned up for the Olympics. We all care about the ecology of our planet and, as best we can, fight for its cleanliness. But since the triathlon competition took place, it means that the organisers conducted a water analysis,” Butkov told .

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