Germany wins Olympic mixed team relay triathlon amid water quality concerns

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00:00We're going to talk a bit more about the Olympic action that's going on today.

00:03And Germany has just won the Olympic team relay triathlon.

00:07Selina Sykes is not far from the Seine River, where part of that race took place.

00:10Selina, what more can you tell us?

00:14Well, Jeannie, what a thrilling mixed relay in the triathlon

00:18here in the heart of Paris, like the 100 metre Menza sprint last night.

00:23It needed a photo finish to determine all the medals.

00:26The gold medalist from Tokyo, Team GB, fighting fiercely with the Germans

00:32for the lead throughout the entirety of that race.

00:35Team GB had a five second lead heading into the final leg of that race.

00:41But Beth Potter was caught by Germany's Laura Linman

00:46and American Taylor Nibb, Team GB, who were initially announced as the silver medalist.

00:52But after looking at that photo finish,

00:54it was swapped around with the Americans.

00:57So the Germans getting the gold, the Americans getting the silver

01:01and Team GB for the bronze.

01:03A quick mention for the hosts of France, it was very bad luck for them today

01:08with a fall on the cycling leg for Pierre Lecour.

01:12He didn't manage to recover from that or the rest of the team,

01:15as much as they tried, didn't manage to recover.

01:17There were high hopes for a team medal, of course, after Cassandra

01:21Beaugrand getting the gold in the women's event

01:25and a bronze for Leo Berger in the men's.

01:27But it wasn't meant to be for the French here today,

01:30but a very fine performance for them as well,

01:32trying to fight back until the very last moment.

01:34Indeed, which they certainly did.

01:36The Germans pulling through there in that win.

01:38That triathlon, though, coming as there still has been a lot of controversy

01:42over just how clean the Seine is really, particularly after Belgium

01:46dropped out of competition.

01:49That's right, Jeannie, still a lot of questions really about how clean

01:53the Seine actually is.

01:54It passed the tests for the race to take place today,

01:58but that was also the case, of course, for the men's and the women's triathlons.

02:02And at least two athletes have fallen ill since their races.

02:06Belgium's athlete, a Belgian athlete, pulled out of the mixed triathlon,

02:12which meant that the Belgians could not take part in today's mixed Thiele race.

02:17It's unconfirmed whether that athlete in question did fall ill because of the Seine,

02:22but she did take place in the women's triathlon.

02:25There are reports that it is E. coli, but nothing has been confirmed by the Belgian team.

02:30And a Swiss athlete, too, who took part in the men's triathlon,

02:35falling ill, too, with a stomach infection and was not able to take part today either.

02:40Obviously, a lot of questions surrounding the Seine.

02:42It's passed the tests needed for athletes to be able to swim,

02:46but I think it's safe to say that it's nowhere near as clean as the swimming pool in Nanterre.

02:51It obviously is a river still in the heart of the capital city of a European country.

02:57And we'll still be having more events taking place for open water swimming during the Olympics.

03:05There's also open water marathon swimming to take place on the 8th and 9th of August.

03:11So still we'll have to wait and see whether the Seine will be deemed clean enough for those events.

03:17The water quality has so far been deemed acceptable for these events to go ahead.

03:22But obviously still a lot of questions, Jeannie, about just how clean the Seine is

03:26after that 1.4 billion euro cleanup project.

03:29And obviously the idea is that it's one of those lasting legacies after the Games

03:32and that Parisians can swim from 2025 in several spots in Paris.

03:38All right, Selena, we'll be keeping an eye on that.

03:39Thanks so much for that.

03:40That's France 24's Selena Sykes.

03:41Thanks to her.

03:42Thanks to you for watching.

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