The cancellation of Paris Olympic triathlon training events after heavy rain caused pollution in the Seine is a familiar story to Torontonians. After storms caused widespread flooding, many Lake Ontario beaches were unfit for swimming in the following days as bacteria counts were high.
In a perverse way it’s comforting to know Paris suffers what Toronto routinely does after storms, despite spending around $2 billion (Canadian) on mitigation and cleanup efforts for the Olympics. It’s also a comfort that Toronto isn’t hosting them. We tried twice, unsuccessfully bidding for the 1996 and 2008 games. A blessing, really, because Olympic promises don’t always come true for cities.