Paris Olympics 2024: Officials postpone opening ceremony rehearsal due to strong Seine flow

Paris Olympics opening ceremony rehearsal, which was originally planned for June 24, has been postponed by the officials due to the strong and pacy Seine River flow according to the city authorities.

The Seine River is currently flowing at a level five times stronger than its typical summer flow due to several weeks of rainy weather, which indicates it would be impossible to have rehearsal and draw the most relevant lessons, the city authorities and the Paris Olympics organizers said.

The rehearsal was expected to have around 90 long flat-bottomed boats to transport teams on their parade down the river in the opening ceremony. For the first time in the Olympics history, Paris 2024 will have its opening ceremony out of its traditional setting of the main Games stadium.

The “very rainy weather” had caused “the strong flow of the river, which does not help to produce a good water quality," the Paris town hall said. (Via Le Monde)

---

Seine was too dirty on June 16 for the Paris Olympics open-water swimming events

Seine River had dangerous levels of E. Coli when last tested on June 16 to allow the Olympic triathlon and open-water swimming events.

According to graphs posted online, almost every day from June 10 to June 16, the level of concentration of fecal E. Coli bacteria was greater than 1,000 colony-forming units, which is the threshold set by the International Triathlon and Swimming Federations.

“Samples from the Seine do not meet the standards we will have this summer,” Paris region prefect Marc Guillaume said.

Most recently, the officials had spent almost USD 1.55 billion to clean up the Seine River. In May 2024, a rainwater storage facility was inaugurated to hold 20 Olympic swimming pools worth of water to reduce pressure on the sewage network and lower the risk of wastewater being discharged into the Seine.

If E. Coli levels remain high, the swimming leg of the triathlon might be canceled or postponed, according to World Triathlon competition rules.

Paris Olympics 2024 organizers stated that a total of 3,000 dancers will be a part of the opening and closing ceremonies on July 26 and August 11, respectively.