Déjà vu a month earlier. All the events of the Paralympic Para-triathlon Games, which were to take place this Sunday, September 1st in Paris, have been postponed by one day because of a “deterioration in the quality of the water in the Seine” due to the weather, the organizers announced on the night of Saturday to Sunday. The 11 events scheduled on the program, which include a swimming section in the Parisian river as during the Olympics, should therefore be held on Monday, while the rain has returned to the capital.
“The latest analyses show a deterioration in the quality of the water in the Seine following the significant rainfall over the last two days,” indicates a press release sent to AFP, after a meeting held in the presence of representatives of Paris-2024, the World Triathlon Federation and the authorities involved in carrying out the water quality tests.
The decision to postpone the competition to Monday “is taken subject to the next water analyses being in line with the thresholds established by the World Triathlon for swimming,” the press release continued. The organizers specified that the priority “is the health of the athletes, and that under these conditions, the para-triathlon events cannot take place today.”
Training cancelled Saturday
Initially, the Paralympic para-triathlon events, which start and finish at the Pont Alexandre-III, were to take place over two days, on September 1 and 2. On Thursday, the organizing committee announced that they would be moved to September 1 due to the weather forecast. Two training sessions in the Seine were able to take place on Thursday and Friday morning, before a final one was canceled on Saturday as a precaution. The course of the event is made up of 750 meters of swimming, 20 kilometers of para-cycling and five km of running.
The quality of the Seine’s water has been at the heart of discussions for weeks, as swimming in the Parisian river is to be part of the great legacies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. During the Olympics, several triathlon and open water swimming training sessions were cancelled and the men’s triathlon was also postponed by a day due to water that was unsuitable for swimming. The fault lies in heavy rainfall.
To give the green light to competitions, authorities closely monitor two levels of fecal bacteria: E. Coli and enterococci.