Olympic triathletes don hazmat pong protection in Knight cartoon

Bonjour*! If you hadn’t heard, the Olympics are currently being held in Paris, the City of Light*. The French are trying something different and are doing it their way. Hey, they’re French, we’d wouldn’t want them to do it any other way!

For a start, there was no stadium involved in the opening ceremony. It was held in the most photogenic part of Paris: in front of the Eiffel Tower and along the River Seine.

Why not use some of the world’s most iconic* architectural landmarks as a backdrop for the Games? The organisers have built pop up arenas for events like skateboarding, BMX and beach volleyball in the Place de la Concorde*, adjacent to “le Tour Eiffel*”.

It is an Instagrammer’s dream!

One of the big events that has caused the most discussion is the Olympic triathlon. That event consists of a 1500m swim, a 20km bike ride, then a 10km run home.

But the Paris Games organisers, in keeping with their plans to hold events in the centre of town, wanted the swim leg of the triathlon to be held in the River Seine.

“Sacrebleu*!” I hear you say.

Swimming is normally banned in Paris’ famous waterway for safety reasons. Paris is a huge, old city. It has a lot of people and a lot of effluent* from the affluent* goes into the river, making the water quality at times, well, “comme ci comme ça*”, that is to say, at times not good.

I have sat with my sketchbook many times in that amazing area which takes in the river, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero* etc and it is breathtakingly beautiful, but I don’t know if taking a dip would be wise.

However, the French were determined to start the triathlon on the Seine. In a bid to make it right for the Games, they spent two billion dollars cleaning up the river. Local politicians invited journalists to film them swimming happily in the river.

It would be just fine.

What’s French for “no worries”?

Then as the Olympics drew near, it started raining, then raining some more.

Stormwater started flowing into the Seine and its e coli* readings went up, but the organisers held firm and said it would still go ahead (they weren’t swimming anyway!).

What a great topic for a cartoon, I thought. It was an opportunity to draw the river with the Eiffel Tower in the background and some very fit triathletes about to plunge into a soup of dubious* quality.

The male athletes stepped back and said “ladies first” so the women’s triathletes got to be the guinea pigs here. I seriously wondered whether they might be wearing earplugs, rubber gloves or special wetsuits to prevent contact with the water.

Then my cartoonist’s brain went to the next level.

In my cartoon, they would be on the starting line wearing biohazard suits*, nuclear fallout radiation* suits, gas masks, rubber boots and respirators*.

The cartoon depicts the moment the starter’s gun goes off and despite the competitors wearing an array of hi-vis, cumbersome* protective gear, they are diving into the Seine and giving it one hundred per cent.

They are oblivious* to the questions of water quality and a chance meeting with Mr Poo. There is a gold medal waiting at the other end. Never get between an athlete and a shiny Olympic medallion!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• bonjour: hello in French
• City of Light: at the beginning of the 19th century, Paris was first city in Europe to use gas lighting to illuminate its streets
• iconic: a famous person or thing greatly admire and seen as a symbol of something important
• Place de la Concorde: a very famous and historic public square in central Paris on the right bank of the Seine, between the Tuileries Gardens and the Champs-Elysees
• Le Tour Eiffel: the Eiffel Tower in French
• sacrebleu: formerly used as a mild French oath to express surprise or annoyance
• effluent: human waste, faecal matter, poo
• affluent: rich, prosperous, having a lot of wealth, property, or other material goods
• comme ci comme ça: the French expression for “so-so”
• Trocadero: a hill in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the name also refers to the district
• e coli: a group of bacteria found in the gut of nearly all people and animals but which has harmful strains
• dubious: doubtful, unreliable, unlikely, suspect
• biohazard: clothing worn to protect against organic substances that threaten our health
• radiation: energy that moves from one place to another in a form that can be described as waves or particles
• respirator: device worn over the mouth and nose to prevent harmful substances from being breathed in
• cumbersome: clumsy, awkward, heavy
• oblivious: not knowing, not being aware or concerned about something, especially something happening around you

EXTRA READING

Paris Olympics Education Kit: the world’s biggest sporting event

No food, fuel or fees for future Olympians

Bluey for Brisbane Games mascot?

QUICK QUIZ

1. What’s the name of the river that runs through Paris?
2. Which Olympic event had a swim leg in the river?
3. How much did the organisers spend cleaning up the river for the Olympics
4. What are some of the iconic landmarks forming the backdrop of these Games?
5. What are the distances involved that make up the triathlon event?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. The cartoon before the cartoon
Before the triathlon events went ahead with the inclusion of the River Seine swim, there were many concerns raised and even the suggestion that the event might be reduced to a duathlon. Imagine the discussions that occurred during this decision-making process!

Create your own Mark Knight inspired cartoon of what you think happened behind closed doors when the organisers decided that the River Seine swim would proceed. Your cartoon should make clear what you believe was the key reason for the decision.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts

2. Extension
The cartoon of the triathletes doesn’t include any speech or thought bubbles, that is left to our imaginations. Add your own to show what you think the competitors are thinking.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this cartoon is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this cartoon is only Part 1. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking