Olympics 2024: Men's triathlon postponed due Seine water quality and may yet change to duathlon
Swimming in the triathlon at the Olympic Games is supposed to take place in the iconic River Seine, but the event has been plagued by concerns over the water quality, especially now after a rain swept start to Paris 2024; organisers have had to postpone the men's event to Wednesday
Last Updated: 30/07/24 1:15pm
The men's triathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris has been postponed due to water-quality levels in the River Seine.
The event had been set to take place on Tuesday morning, with the women's event to be held 24 hours later.
The decision has now been taken to move the men's race to Wednesday as well, but if it is not possible to use the Seine then the triathlons could be postponed further still, or become duathlons and lose the swimming element.
As it stands the men's event has been rescheduled to take place at 10.45am local time (9.45am BST) on Wednesday, after the women's race which is scheduled for 8am (7am BST).
A statement from World Triathlon said Friday remains a contingency day if one or both of the races are unable to go ahead.
"Tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held," World Triathlon said in a statement released on Tuesday morning.
"Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits."
Training in the river had been cancelled over the weekend and again on Monday due to unsafe levels of pollution caused by the heavy rain that blighted the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday and initial outdoor events on Saturday.
Paris has a combined sewer system, meaning both wastewater and stormwater flow through the same pipes.
When there are periods of heavy rainfall, the pipes can reach capacity and this wastewater - including sewage - overflows into the River Seine instead of being sent to a treatment plant.
Open water swimming and triathlon events were due to take place in the Seine, more than 100 years after swimming in the river was banned in 1923.
Earlier this month, France's sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera swam in the Seine alongside Paralympic triathlon champion Alexis Hanquinquant, who won gold in the men's PTS4 event at Tokyo 2020, to show people it was clean enough for the Olympic swimming events.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo also took a dip, joined by Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet, but there was no sign of President Emmanuel Macron who had suggested he would also take the plunge.
Hildago had originally planned to swim in the river in June but was forced to delay after tests indicated the presence of faecal matter 10 times higher than authorised limits.
Paris officials have spent €1.4bn in a bid to improve water quality ahead of the Games.
GB has strong medal contenders in the event. Britain's Alex Yee is one of the favourites for gold in the men's race while Beth Potter is the reigning women's world champion.
What happens if the swim can't go ahead?
Games organisers remain "hopeful" both triathlons can take place on Wednesday, though the event could be pushed further back to Friday or even changed outright to a duathlon (with the run and the cycle, but no swim) if it is still not possible to use the Seine.
Officials blamed extreme weather events for the issues. "We had meteorological events that were beyond our control," Aurelie Merle, executive director of sport competitions Paris 2024, said on Tuesday. "The whole world has seen as witness that it rained heavily in Paris [during the opening ceremony and on the first day of the Games]. The equivalent to July's rainfall fell in just 36 hours.
"The amount of water that has fallen on Friday and Saturday has been humungous so it's taken time for the river to get back to normal.
"We are quite hopeful because as you can see the weather conditions have been quite good.
"We are hopeful that we can organise these two competition events tomorrow."
E.coli in the river is of particular concern, and there is still a chance that further storms and rainfall could have a further impact on the water quality.
But Marisol Casado, the president of World Triathlon, said on Tuesday: "At this point we are quite confident that that will happen tomorrow.
"This is a part of adaptation to climate change we are facing. We are disappointed because we were not able to follow what was planned."
Losing the whole swim from the event is a drastic step but a distinct possibility. But Casado still considers it acceptable.
"I don't think this is unfair, it is just another situation of the competition," she said. "It's the same conditions for everyone."
IOC sport director Kit McConnell said: "It's not uncommon for changes to be made, particularly in outdoor sports.
"The conditions weren't right to put the athletes in the Seine today. There have been significant improvements regarding the Seine.
"We can't control the weather, the weather has had a significant impact."
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