The men's individual triathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris was postponed again by one day on Tuesday due to the poor water quality of the River Seine following the heavy rainfall from last week.
The latest water samples of the Seine were taken on Tuesday morning at 03:30, with the quality of the water having been deemed "insufficient" to allow the triathlon to safely go ahead, according to the World Triathlon Federation, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the French meteorological agency and the City of Paris.
The triathlon training sessions, due to take place in the river, were also cancelled on Sunday and Monday.
"Despite an improvement in the water quality in the last few hours, the values at some points of the swimming course are still exceeding the acceptable limits," they said, adding that their priority is the health of the athletes.
However, athletes and analysts have had concerns about the river's water quality for months. In a reaction to the announcement, Belgian triathlete Marten Van Riel stressed that if the priority was the health of the athletes, "this event would have been moved to another location a long time ago."
'Disrespectful'
"We are just puppets in a puppet show. Duathlon is no triathlon and changing the day like that, in the middle of the night, is disrespectful to the years of preparation of the athletes and to all our fans that were going to watch live or on television," he said. "What an appearance for triathlon on the biggest scene!"
The triathlon was due to start on Tuesday at 08:00, but has now been postponed to Wednesday at 10:45. For the time being, the start of the women's individual triathlon will remain unchanged at 08:00 on Wednesday.
The organisers emphasise that additional water samples will have to show whether the competitions can actually take place on Wednesday. "A reserve day will still be provided on Friday 2 August," they added.
Van Riel will be participating in the men's triathlon for Belgium alongside Jelle Geens. Jolien Vermeylen and Claire Michel will be participating in the women's triathlon.
Credit: Belga/Jasper Jacobs
In the meantime, a code orange warning has also been issued for Paris and the entire Ile-de-France region due to a risk of thunderstorms from 18:00, French weather service Météo-France confirmed on Tuesday.
"There is a risk of intense thunderstorms, with significant precipitation (20 to 40mm in less than an hour), hail, gusts of wind and lightning," they said. What this would mean for the water quality of the Seine on Wednesday morning is currently unclear.
