The Olympic men’s triathlon was yesterday postponed just hours before it was due to get under way after last-ditch water quality tests in the Seine River revealed unhealthy pollution levels, organizers said.
In a move that left athletes angry and Olympic officials scrambling, organizers announced shortly before 5am that the men’s event would be delayed by 24 hours and take place immediately after the women’s race today.
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.
Photo: AF
“Paris 2024 and World Triathlon reiterate that their priority is the health of the athletes,” the statement said after a 3:30am meeting.
“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,” it said.
Organizers had already cancelled training sessions in the Seine scheduled for Sunday and Monday because of unsafe pollution levels caused by last week’s rain.
However, they had expressed confidence that the pollution would drop in time for yesterday’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 yesterday evening also casts doubt on the viability of holding the men’s and the women’s race today.
“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 Organizing 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.
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