Olympics - Paris 2024 holds triathlon test event for the Olympics - Paris, France - August 18, 2023 General view as athletes compete in the elite men triathlon test event in the river seine REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A faulty valve in Paris' sewage system was likely to have caused a contamination of the River Seine's water that led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event, the Paris city council said on Wednesday. The swimming stage of the World Triathlon Para Cup - seen as a test event for the 2024 Summer Games - was cancelled on Saturday due to poor water quality. Athletes had taken part in swimming events in the Seine on the previous two days. "The valve that prevents rainwater from being discharged into the River Seine appears to have leaked," Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera was quoted as saying by Le Parisien. Paris has been working on cleaning up the Seine so that people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Paris Olympics more than a century ago.

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Persons: Stephanie Lecocq, Alexandre, Le Canard, Amelie Oudea, Castera, Le Parisien, Tassilo Hummel, Stephen Coates, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Olympics, Rights, Le Parisien, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, REUTERS, Tolbiac, Seine