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NewsTranscript
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.