Men's triathlon ppd. to Wednesday due to Seine pollution levels

PARIS -- The men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics will not go ahead as planned Tuesday as pollution levels in the Seine remain too high, World Triathlon said in a statement.

The race has been postponed to Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. local time, immediately after the women's event, which is scheduled for 8 a.m.

The decision is a blow to organizers who previously said they were confident water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.

The 55 triathletes who were primed to compete Tuesday now face more uncertainty.

"Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits," organizers said.

World Triathlon will meet with coaches at 8 a.m. Tuesday to provide them with all the information and the updated schedule for the race, they said.

If levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning, both the men's and women's races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events.

For the mixed triathlon relay event Aug. 5, the contingency day is Aug. 6.

Paris authorities have promised to make the Seine swimmable as a key legacy of the Games, and spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.51 billion) on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimize spillage into the waterway.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo very publicly took a swim in the river two weeks ago, along with Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs. Data released last week show that E. coli levels at the Bras Marie were at 985 units per 100 milliliters that day, slightly above the established threshold.

The gamble that the river would be clean enough for the triathlon was never guaranteed to pay off, especially as water quality varies widely day-to-day.

Heavy rains generally cause levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the Seine to rise. Paris experienced a downpour during the Olympic opening ceremony Friday, with rain continuing into Saturday. 

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.