aerial view of Seine which is too mucky for men's triathlon to take place

Paris 2024 has been forced to postpone its men’s triathlon event after testing the water quality of the Seine. This follows the mayor’s triumphant swim earlier this month and the meandering boat parade of the Olympics opening ceremony.

‘Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control, such as the rain which fell over Paris on 26 and 27 July, can alter water quality and compel us to reschedule the event for health reasons,’ says the official statement from Paris 2024 organisers. ‘Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.’

The tests carried out in the Seine revealed water quality levels that did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held.

A meeting on water quality was held this morning (30 July) at 03:30. That early morning call was attended by Paris 2024, representatives of World Triathlon and its technical and medical delegates, the International Olympic Committee, Météo France, the City of Paris and the Prefecture of the Île-de-France Region.

Now, with the latest weather information taken into account, it’s been decided to schedule the men’s triathlon event for tomorrow (31 July) at 10:45 after the women’s triathlon which is due to take place at 08:00. Both triathlons are subject to the forthcoming water tests complying with the established World Triathlon thresholds for swimming. A contingency day remains in place for 2 August. The schedule of all events is available online.

Paris 2024 and World Triathlon have reiterated that their priority is the health of the athletes.

France allocated €1.4bn to clean up the river, addressing ongoing concerns about sewage system overflows that introduce waste waters and bacteria into the Seine. The clean up of the river — essentially unswimmable for the past century — has become a major project for France. It’s expected that 55 male and 55 female athletes will complete a 1.5km swim in the river as part of the triathlon. A week later, marathon swimmers are expected to swim from the same location.

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