This time, is it for real? Postponed by one day due to doubts about the quality of the Seine water, the para-triathlon events should be held on Monday, September 2. The decision was made in the evening, following a meeting between representatives of World Triathlon, Paris 2024 and the French authorities involved in monitoring the quality of the river water.
The results analysed today, combined with the online and real-time monitoring system of the microbiological quality of the water (Coliminder), indicate that the quality of the water continues to improve and will comply with the thresholds set by the World Triathlon on the day of the race," confirmed the three bodies in a press release.
Originally scheduled to take place between September 1st and 2nd, the para-triathlon events had been moved to Sunday following initial negative analyses. Finally, despite the authorities giving the green light on Saturday evening, the competitions had been postponed again, as the Seine was not swimmable. It would seem that the conditions are finally in place to allow the para-athletes to compete on Monday.
"We are confident"
Earlier in the day, Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said he was confident. "Given the rain on Friday and Saturday, we suspected that there was a risk of the events being cancelled this Sunday morning," he said. "As a precautionary measure and given the protocol it is putting in place, the International Triathlon Federation preferred to announce to swimmers that the events had been postponed. But we are confident that the race will take place tomorrow, the weather is nice this Sunday in Paris. This is exactly what happened during the Olympic Games, when a first event was postponed and was finally able to take place the next day."
He adds that over the last 62 days, the Seine has complied with bathing standards for 50 working days, or 80%. "What is unfortunate is that the days of non-compliance fell on competition days," said Pierre Rabadan.
All the events of the Paralympic Games para-triathlon, which were to take place on Sunday in Paris, have been postponed by one day because of a "deterioration in the quality of the water in the Seine" caused by 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, are expected to take place on Monday, as rain has returned to the capital. "The latest analyses show a deterioration in the quality of the water in the Seine following the heavy rains of the last two days," said 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 water quality tests.
A second programming change
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" Sunday.
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.
