The Olympic men’s triathlon was postponed just hours before it was due to get under way on Tuesday after last-ditch water quality tests in the River Seine revealed unhealthy pollution levels, organisers said.
In a move that left athletes angry and Olympic officials scrambling, organisers announced shortly before 5:00 am (0300 GMT) that the men’s event would be delayed by 24 hours and take place immediately after the women’s race on Wednesday.
A joint statement from Paris 2024 and World Triathlon blamed the excessive pollution on the heavy rain that deluged the French capital on Friday and Saturday.
“Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes,” the statement said after a meeting held at 3:30 am local time (0130 GMT).
“The tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality levels that did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held.
“Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control … can alter water quality and compel us to reschedule the event for health reasons.”
Organisers had already cancelled training sessions in the Seine scheduled for Sunday and Monday because of unsafe pollution levels caused by last week’s rain.
But they had expressed confidence that the pollution would drop in time for Tuesday’s race given the bright, sunny conditions in Paris this week which helps keep bacteria levels down.
Benjamin Maze, the technical director of the French Triathlon Federation, told FranceInfo radio that there was “a bit of anger” among competitors.
“The athletes got up a bit before 4am, they were having breakfast when we received the information from the international federation,” he said. “Obviously there’s a bit of anger and a lot of disappointment.”
Adding to the concerns, a threat of storms on Tuesday evening also casts doubt on the viability of holding the men’s and the women’s race on Wednesday.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty on their trajectory, their intensity. We can’t say anything for certain,” Christophe Calas, a weather forecaster based at the Paris 2024 organising committee, told reporters on Monday.
“If there’s a storm overnight that results in significant amounts of precipitation that would have an impact on water quality in the Seine,” added the expert from national forecaster Meteo France. River
Tuesday’s delay is an embarrassment for French authorities which have invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) over the last decade to clean up the Seine, including in major new water treatment and storage facilities in and around Paris.
Heavy downpours still overwhelm the city’s underground drains and sewage system, leading to untreated effluent being released into the waterway.
After an exceptionally wet spring and start to summer, the Seine had been consistently failing water tests until the beginning of July.
Levels of the E.Coli bacteria — an indicator of faecal matter — were sometimes 10 times higher than authorised limits.
The outcome of the men’s triathlon is seen as unpredictable, with all three medallists from Tokyo 2020 — Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt, Britain’s Alex Yee and New Zealander Hayden Wilde — set to race, while French favourites Leo Bergere and Dorian Coninx are also strongly tipped.
Paris 2024 organisers have built flexibility into their schedule in order to delay the triathlon races by several days.
As a last resort, they have said they would cancel the swimming leg of the triathlon and turn the race into a duathlon — with only running and cycling.
The Seine is set to be used for the Triathlon mixed relay on August 5 and then again for marathon swimming — a 10-kilometre swim in open water — on August 8-9.
Marathon swimming can be moved to an other location in Vaires-sur-Marne on the River Marne east of Paris.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the Seine earlier this month along with Paris 2024 chief organiser Tony Estanguet to demonstrate it was clean enough for the Olympics.
The Socialist city leader plans to create three public bathing areas in the Seine for Parisians next year — a century after swimming was banned in the river.