Parisians threaten to defecate en masse in protest ahead of Olympics: "a kind of sh*tting flash mob"

Paris, France - The 2024 Summer Olympics are due to start in Paris in just over a month's time. Two competitions are due to be held in the French capital's river, and protesting Parisians are furious that the Seine is failing pollution checks.

Not only will the Olympic opening ceremony take place on the Seine, but the river is also planned as the venue for two competitions.
Not only will the Olympic opening ceremony take place on the Seine, but the river is also planned as the venue for two competitions.  © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Sacre bleu! What to doo-doo?

The water samples from the Olympic river currently exceed the specified pollution limits for the open water swimming and triathlon competitions, French authorities announced on Friday.

Regional prefect Marc Guillaume said he hopes that the quality of the water will improve significantly by the start of the mega-event on July 26.

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The heavy rainfall in recent weeks has reportedly had a particularly negative impact on the cleanliness of the river as it increases the concentration of feces.

The city official said that other contributing factors to the poor water quality include little sunshine and temperatures below seasonal standards.

Most recently, a test of the free floats had to be canceled, although France has already invested 1.4 billion euros to clean the Seine, which has been polluted for years.

President Emmanuel Macron (l.) and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (r.) announced at the inauguration of the Olympic Village that they wanted to demonstrate the cleanliness of the Seine with a river bath on June 23.
President Emmanuel Macron (l.) and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (r.) announced at the inauguration of the Olympic Village that they wanted to demonstrate the cleanliness of the Seine with a river bath on June 23.  © Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced at the inauguration of the Olympic Village that they wanted to demonstrate the cleanliness of the Seine with a river bath on June 23.

In response, some users on social media started posting under the hashtag "#JeChieDansLaSeine," which means "#IPoopInTheSeine," to show their dislike of the politicians ahead of their June 23 dip.

Users sarcastically promoted defecating in the river as a form of protest against Macron and Hidalgo's less-than-popular political policies.

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Incidentally, the call to action was not entirely serious as the originator of the hashtag later clarified that he had only wanted to draw attention to the issue.

He added that it was dangerous to defecate in the water, and did not actually recommend trying it.

Cover photo: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

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