Olympic organisers have cancelled a triathlon training session planned for Monday on the River Seine after rain on Friday and Saturday left the river muddy.
The Olympic Games Organising Committee, the International Triathlon Federation and local authorities have taken the “decision to cancel the swimming portion of the introductory triathlon” scheduled for this morning and Sunday because “water quality levels (…) do not provide sufficient guarantees,” the statement said.
Triathlon is the first Olympic event to take place on the Seine before open water swimming in the second week of the Paris Olympics.
The men’s individual triathlon race will start at 8am on Tuesday (9am in Lisbon), while the women’s individual race will begin at the same time on Wednesday.
Therefore, there will be no preliminary identification of the route of navigation on the river starting from the Alexandre III bridge, despite the fact that the flow of the Seine, increased by the rains of recent weeks, is three times higher than the usual summer level.
On the other hand, “introductions to the running and cycling events will proceed as planned” throughout the day, the organisation said, “remaining confident” that the events will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The French government and local authorities have invested €1.4 billion to make the Seine and its main tributary, the Marne, suitable for swimming in preparation for the Games and then for the general public.