PARIS: The Paris Olympics men’s triathlon was postponed just hours before it was due to get under way on Tuesday after water quality tests on the River Seine revealed it was still too dirty for swimming, World Triathlon said in a statement, dealing a blow to organisers and leaving athletes facing more uncertainty.

The race was postponed until Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. local time (0845 GMT), immediately after the women’s event, which is scheduled for 8 a.m. that day.

Organisers had previously said they were confident water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains last Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.

“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,” they said early on Tuesday.

Should levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning both the men’s and women’s races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events.

If by Friday the water quality is still not good enough, the swim leg will be scrapped and athletes will compete in a duathlon instead. For the mixed triathlon relay event on Aug 5, the contingency day is Aug 6.

Adding to the risk of another postponement, France’s state weather service has forecast a risk of thunderstorms on Tuesday evening and overnight.

Australia’s Olympic team chief Anna Meares said news of the postponement had not deterred the triathletes.

“The athletes are really looking forward to having that stage and that platform to perform on,” she told reporters. “They actually want to swim in the river.”

French triathlon federation technical director Benjamin Maze told FranceInfo they were taking steps to help athletes deal with the situation.

“Of course there is a little bit of anger and a lot of disappointment,” he said.

The federation had been working with psychologists to help athletes prepare mentally for the uncertainty, Maze added.

Heavy downpours overwhelm Paris’s underground drains and sewage system, some of which dates back to the 19th century, leading to untreated effluent being released into the waterway.

The postponement calls into question the confidence of Paris 2024 organisers that a public investment of 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to clean up the Seine would bear fruit in time for the Olympics.

The river has been placed at the heart of the Paris Games, from the opening ceremony on its waters last Friday to the triathlon and marathon swimming scheduled for this week and next.

Bacteria aside, the Olympic triathlon course was conceived to maximise the wow factor, with the river swim a key element.

After diving into the Seine from a pontoon next to the Alexandre III bridge, athletes are set to race past the Muse d’Orsay and Grand Palais

during the bike and run stages before ending back where they started.

Crossing the finish line on the bridge, they will be framed by stone columns topped with gilt-bronze statues of Pegasus, with the golden dome of the early 18th century Invalides monument as a backdrop.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2024