ITU Unfazed by Rio Water Pollution

(ATR)The International Triathlon Union say they have no concerns about the quality of water on their course for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

ITU executive director Antonio Arimany was speaking at the latest Triathlon series in London last weekend, which drew 40,000 spectators and is the most successful edition of the event to date. Spain’s Mario Mola won the men’s elite race and USA’s Gwen Jorgensen won the women’s elite race.

Looking forward to the Games in two years’ time though, concerns have been raised about the water quality in Rio. A key goal of Rio’s pledge was to treat 80% of its sewage by the time the Games come around.

However, recently according to Rio's Deputy State Secretary of Environment Gelson Serva, only 34% of Rio's sewage is treated. The rest is spilled raw into the waters, into places like Guanabara Bay.

Arimany had no fears though that the world would see an elite Olympic triathlon on Copacabana Beach:

"In Rio, where else can you be? It is one of the best places in the world to be, so we are looking forward to the event in Rio. We don’t have any issues because our venue is temporary and we don’t have to build much.

"We have raised the water issue with the organizing committee and the place where they are doing their [sailing] competition is completely different, and as you will see on TV every day, people are swimming in Copacabana, so we are not concerned about pollution."

"Of course, we have to fulfill our requirements, but it’s a different area of the city and Copacabana we see that people are swimming every day."

The construction required for the triathlon is minimal as it is a temporary venue, so Arimany assured ATR there was no need for a "Plan B."

"The water is there, the roads are there, so we just need to build the temporary venue. That’s it. It’s not something that cannot be done," he added.

However, the story is not so straightforward when looking towards the triathlon event at the 2015 European Games in Baku.

The Azeri capital has faced similar criticism for water pollution, with oil and floating waste meaning the water quality is not up to a safe standard.

With time running out to solve the problem, a "Plan B" is therefore required in this situation.

"We have to define with the organizing committee the place where the swim will take place because of what has been raised about the water quality of the place they were proposing," Arimany said.

"We are waiting for the test and looking for a place the swimming can take place because of the water quality in Baku. That has been a concern for us and the triathlon union for the past months, and we are working trying to solve the issue."

Triathlon’s qualification period for the Olympics takes two years and the European Triathlon Union were hoping to use the Baku Games as their qualification event. But Arimany admitted that may not be possible.

"We hope it will be, but if not, we have to decide another race and they have another year to decide. So we are not in a hurry.

"If the water quality doesn’t reach the required level, we will do a duathlon."

Rio and Baku could take lessons away from London who had to clean 246 hectares of contaminated land to construct the 2012 Olympic Park.

Reported by Christian Radnedge

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.