The 2024 Olympics organizers have announced the postponement of the men's triathlon by one day due to continued high pollution levels in the River Seine.
Men's triathlon at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France The competition, which was scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024, had to be postponed by a day because pollution levels in the River Seine remained too high. This has hurt organizers and left athletes facing further uncertainty about their competition.
The World Triathlon said in a statement that the competition has been postponed to Wednesday, July 31, 2024, and will resume immediately after the end of the women's competition.
Previously, Olympic organizers said they were confident that water quality would improve in time for the competition. But heavy rains on Friday and Saturday left the river filthy.
According to a statement issued Tuesday morning, “Although the water quality has improved over the past few hours, readings at some points along the swim route were still above acceptable limits.
Paris 2024 and the World Triathlon have stressed that athlete health is their top priority if bacteria levels remain too high by Wednesday morning. The men’s and women’s events could be postponed to Friday instead, an emergency day reserved for such activities.
Seth Ryder, a triathlete from the United States, was one of 55 people competing in the men's category. He told reporters he had taken extraordinary measures to prepare for possible exposure to the bacteria.
“We knew there would be some exposure to E. coli. So I try to increase my exposure to E. coli by exposing myself to E. coli in my daily life.