All Paralympic Games Paratriathlon events, which were due to take place on Sunday 1st September in Paris, were postponed by one day due to a “deterioration of the water quality of the Seine” due to the weather, the organizers announced during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
The 11 events scheduled for the event, which include a swimming section in the Parisian river as during the Olympic Games, are due to take place on Monday, when the rain has returned to the capital.
“The latest analyses show a deterioration in the quality of the Seine water following the heavy rains of the last two days”This is indicated in a press release sent to Agence France-Presse, following 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. “This is accepted on the condition that the next water analyses comply with the thresholds established by the Triathlon World Championship for swimming”we can still read in the press release. The organizers specify that the priority “It is the health of the athletes, and that in these conditions the paratriathlon tests cannot be carried out today” Sunday.
Initially, the Paralympic paratriathlon events, with the start and finish taking place on the Pont Alexandre III, were to take place over two days, on 1 and 2 September.
The training sessions were held
The organising committee announced that the race would be regrouped on 1 September due to the weather forecast. Two training sessions were held on Thursday and Friday morning on the Seine, before the last one was cancelled on Saturday as a precaution.
The race route consists of 750 metres of swimming, 20 kilometres of para-cycling and five kilometres of running.
The quality of the water in the Seine has been the subject of debate for weeks, while swimming in the Parisian river must be one 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 one day because the water was not suitable for swimming due to heavy rain. In order to give the green light to the competitions, the authorities closely monitor two levels of faecal bacteria: that of the E. coli bacteria and that of enterococci.
