Furious Frenchmen are threatening to turn the Seine into a sewer this Sunday in a bizarre protest against the eye-watering costs of Olympic preparations.
The movement, cheekily dubbed #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin (I'll poo in the Seine on June 23), has gained traction after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo boasted she'd take a dip to prove the river's cleanliness.
Hidalgo, however, has now back-pedalled on her pledge, conveniently citing the hastily-called French elections as reason to postpone her plunge.
A staggering £1.2 billion has been poured into purifying the Seine for Olympic swimmers and triathletes, as the river prepares to host key events during the Games.
A spokesman for the movement told news outlet Actu Paris: "The problem is that all the resources that have been invested have not been to resolve all the social problems we have.
"We have the feeling of being abandoned. We see where their priority was."
Hidalgo's dip delay has granted officials a reprieve to tackle water quality issues, following Friday's damning report on the Seine's cleanliness.
With just five weeks until the Games, recent tests revealed alarming levels of two types of faecal bacteria, including E.coli, falling short of Olympic standards.
The French capital last played host to the sporting spectacle a century ago in 1924, marking its second of three turns as Olympic venue since the inaugural 1900 Paris Game.
Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Olympics, said: “We really wish to make Paris 2024 the first ‘Games Wide Open’, and we are fully dedicated to bringing this concept to life.”
It will, however, come off the back of a snap election called by Mr Macron whose party lost seats to the extreme right National Rally party in the EU elections.
The vote will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.
