The men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday will not go ahead as planned as pollution levels in the Seine remain too high, the sport’s governing body World Triathlon said in a statement.
The race has been postponed to Wednesday at 10.45am local time (6.45pm AEST), just after the women’s event, scheduled for 4pm AEST.
The decision is a blow to organizers who had previously said they were confident water quality would improve with warm, sunny conditions in time for the race, after heavy rain last Friday and Saturday fouled the river .
The 55 triathletes who were set to compete Tuesday now face more uncertainty.
“Despite the improvement in water quality in recent hours, the values at some points of the swimming course are still above acceptable limits,” the organizers said.
World Triathlon will meet the coaches on Tuesday morning to provide them with all the information and the updated race program.
If bacteria levels remain too high by Wednesday morning, both the men’s and women’s races will likely be postponed until Friday, the contingency day set aside for events.
For the mixed triathlon relay on Monday 5 May, the restricted day is Tuesday 6 May.
Authorities in Paris have vowed to make the swimmable Seine a key legacy of the Games and have spent 1.4 billion euros ($2.31 billion) on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimize spills in waterways.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in an attempt to convince doubters.
The bet that the river would be clean enough for the triathlon never paid off, especially since the water quality varies widely from day to day.
Rain significantly increases concentrations of infection-causing bacteria such as E. coli and enterococci.