Paralympic triathlon events postponed for a day because of poor water quality in Seine river

Paris — Paralympic triathlon competitions in Paris scheduled for Sunday were postponed for a day because of concerns about water quality in the Seine River after heavy rainfall, organizers said.


The 11 para triathlon events are now scheduled for Monday, the Paris 2024 organizing committee and World Triathlon said in a joint statement.


Rainstorms hit the French capital Friday and Saturday. Heavy rains cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, leading to a rise in bacteria levels including E. Coli.


"It rained a lot Friday and then it also rained Saturday. So the international federation and the organizing committee ... out of a principle of precaution decided to delay all of the events for a day," Paris Deputy Mayor Pierre Rabadan told reporters.


While organizers awaited new test results, Rabadan said "the trend is actually positive to being able to have the competition tomorrow morning."


Late Sunday night, organizers confirmed the races would go ahead Monday, saying in a statement that new water testing results and monitoring ''indicate that water quality continues to improve and will be within the World Triathlon thresholds on race day.''


This was the second scheduled change for the para triathlon events. They had initially been scheduled to take place over two days, Sunday and Monday, but were moved to Sunday because of rain forecasts.


The disruption is another hiccup for the city's efforts to clean up the river for future public swimming, one of Paris' most ambitious promises ahead of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. The men's individual triathlon event during the Paris Olympics was delayed and several test swims were canceled because of high E. coli levels after rainstorms.


Lazreg Benel-Hadj, vice president of the French Swimming Federation, said that while some of the 53 athletes who took part in Olympic swimming competitions in the Seine fell ill afterward, none of those illnesses "was linked to the water in the Seine."


Rabadan reiterated that athletic events in the river would continue past the Paralympics.


"Yes, for sure, we will continue," he said. "We'll continue to have competition in the river. So many reasons for that. First one because athletes are happy with that, and second one because the quality of water will permit it in the future. So we will keep going on that way. And that's a massive legacy of the games."