The Olympic men’s individual triathlon at Paris 2024 has been postponed due to water quality issues in the River Seine. Tests revealed that the water did not meet the required standards for the event to take place.
The race was originally scheduled to start at 07:00 BST (08:00 local time) on Tuesday but will now be held on Wednesday at 09:45 (10:45 local time), following the conclusion of the women’s event.
Swimming training sessions were cancelled on Sunday and Monday because the water quality in the River Seine was affected by heavy rainfall in recent days.
The organisers have indicated Friday, 2 August as a contingency date for both races. Additionally, they mentioned that the event could be transformed into a duathlon as a last resort.
World Triathlon conducted tests in the Seine today, which revealed that the water quality did not meet the necessary standards for the race. While there has been some improvement, certain portions of the swim course still exceed acceptable limits.
Alex Yee from Great Britain is considered one of the favorites for the gold medal in the men’s race, while Beth Potter, also from Great Britain, is the reigning women’s world champion.
Daily tests are being conducted on the water quality in the Seine, as multiple other triathlon and swimming events are planned to take place in the river. These include the mixed relay on 5 August, Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.
The organisers have invested approximately 1.4 billion euros (1.2 billion pounds) in a regeneration project to improve the safety of the river for swimming, after a century-long ban on swimming in the Seine. However, as recently as June this year, the level of E. coli bacteria found in the water was ten times higher than the acceptable limit set by sports federations.