The men’s triathlon at Paris 2024 was postponed after tests revealed the water in the River Seine was not clean enough for the swimming leg to take place.
The race was due to start at 11.30 AM (SL Time) on Tuesday but is now set to take place on Wednesday at 2.15 PM (SL Time), following the conclusion of the women’s event.
Swimming training sessions were cancelled on Sunday and Monday because of the poor water quality, which was impacted by recent heavy rainfall.
Friday, 2 August remains a back-up date for both races, while organisers say the event could be contested as a duathlon – just the cycling and running legs – as a last resort.
“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.
“Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
Great Britain’s Alex Yee is one of the favourites for gold in the men’s race, while team-mate Beth Potter is the reigning women’s world champion.
“The postponement is clearly disappointing, but we understand the organising committee’s desire for the event to go ahead as a triathlon,” British Triathlon performance director Mike Cavendish said.
Cavendish added that the weather forecast is looking “encouraging” for the event’s chances of going ahead on Wednesday.
Tests are being carried out daily on the water quality in the Seine, which is also due to host the triathlon mixed relay on 5 August, the Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.
Organisers said about 1.4bn euros (£1.2bn) has been spent on a regeneration project to make the Seine safe to swim in after a 100-year-old ban from doing so.
But as recently as June this year the level of E coli bacteria was 10 times the acceptable level imposed by sports federations.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo recently swam in the river to highlight the clean-up efforts which have been undertaken and, earlier this month, tests showed the river was clean enough for swimming.
However, heavy rain in Paris on Friday and Saturday has caused the water quality to decline and, at a meeting held at 7.00 PM (SL Time) on Tuesday morning, the decision was taken to postpone the event.
Thundery showers are forecast for Wednesday morning, following predicted high temperatures of up to 35C on Tuesday.
“In the case of triathlon the heat has a positive effect because the sunlight and the increased temperature is beneficial in the sense that it kills bacteria,” Paris 2024 operations director Lambis Konstantinidis told BBC Sport.
Organisers have extreme heat contingency plans for each sport and venue and some sports have a specific temperature threshold where play cannot continue if exceeded.
‘Postponement highlights global environmental issue’
British triathlete Vicky Holland, an Olympic bronze medallist in 2016, told BBC Sport the postponement was “a bit devastating” for the male athletes but she remains hopeful that the rescheduled event can take place on Wednesday.
“The silver lining is we are only talking about a 24-hour delay at the moment but I think this is something that could have been foreseen and better contingencies could have been put in place,” said Holland, 38.
“We don’t always have the cleanest water but there are thresholds that are there for a reason. It can mess you up for quite a long time if you get a nasty bug.
“What they have tried to do in Paris is for the best reasons, they are trying to leave a legacy. There are less and less waterways around the world that we can swim in and that is a global environmental problem – it’s not just the Seine.
“The Olympic Games are about legacy and I understand why they have invested a lot of money into doing something that can last for generations to come. But they haven’t quite been able to do everything they needed.”
Holland, World Triathlon Series champion in 2018, believes the disruption caused by a one-day delay will impact athletes mentally much more than it will physically.
“This won’t be a complete shock to them given the water quality in recent days. They will likely not have had the best sleep last night and they will need to make readjustments,” she said.
“How they approach it mentally will be the determining factor for every athlete now. I know the teams around Alex and Sam will be doing all the right things and keeping them as relaxed as possible.
“A duathlon would be the worst-case scenario. That would be a really disappointing outcome. It is disappointing that there wasn’t another contingency in place, but a back-up venue feels like an obvious option.”
Analysis
BBC News Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield
This dirty water story is getting to be an embarrassment for all involved – the Olympics organisers, the city of Paris and the French government.
We were led to believe the Seine would be ready for swimming by the time of the Games, thanks to a massive investment of 1.4bn euros.
Persistently negative test results in the past months were put down to rainy spring weather. That, plus the fact the massive underground holding reservoir near Austerlitz station – a key part of the solution – had yet to come on stream.
But now it is high summer and the Austerlitz reservoir is operating – and still the water is not clean enough.
Worse, it’s been revealed that on the day city mayor Anne Hidalgo took her famous dip (17 July) pollution levels were too high for bathing. Her explanation for the swim is that authorisation decisions are based on previous days’ results, which were positive.
It all begins to look like a massive exercise in finger-crossing – which is not how major sporting events are supposed to be run.
Which is a shame, because the big picture is that the river Seine is infinitely cleaner than it was 25 years ago. Most of the preparation for swimming has been achieved. The goal of opening the river for public bathing is within sight.
Just perhaps not in time for the Olympics.
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