We appear to be back where we were one week ago at Paris 2024, with fears growing of a potential Olympic Games triathlon postponement thanks to the water quality in the River Seine.
Last Tuesday organisers were forced to delay the men’s individual event by 24 hours after heavy rains in the French capital had again scuppered that much-vaunted $1.5bn cleanup operation aimed at making the iconic waterway safe for swimming.
Eventually both individual races went ahead on Wednesday, both producing epic showdowns and being acclaimed as major successes. But five days on, and the water quality again appears to be causing concern after rain towards the end of last week.
The Mixed Relay – the final triathlon race of the Games – is due to take place at 0800 local time on Monday. But again we appear to be in a race against time, and the weather, for that to happen.
Training swims cancelled
Training/familiarisation swims scheduled for Saturday and Sunday were both cancelled per widespread media reports, and organisers are now pinning their hopes once again on improved weather to save the day.
A statement released late on Saturday explained: “We are expecting an improvement on the conditions in the next hours, but not to a level to which the swim familiarisation planned for tomorrow can take place.
“In view of these conditions, we have decided to cancel the swim familiarisation tonight to avoid late communication to athletes.”
So what happens next?
It is possible that the readings which will determine whether Monday’s race goes ahead as planned have already been taken, as they have a 20-24-hour lead time. A final decision will be taken at around 0400 local time on Monday (0300 UK, 2200 Sunday on the East Coast of the United States).
If the readings are below the standards required for the swim to take place, the current backup plan is to delay the race by 24 hours to Tuesday August 6 (again at 0800 local time). If issues remain on Tuesday, then the race is set to be downgraded to duathlon format – the news every athlete and triathlon fan fears. This would mean no swim, and run/bike/run.
Latest Paris weather forecast
While the readings for Monday MAY have already been taken, the weather could still be very relevant for that Tuesday reserve day.
The latest forecast for the French capital is as follows:
Sunday August 4: Highs of 25 degrees Celcius, and hopefully a drying and sunny day. A tiny, tiny chance of precipitation.
Monday August 5: Highs of 30 degrees and a very warm and sunny day. Again a negligible chance of precipitation. But will it come too late?
Tuesday August 6: Very warm with partial sunshine, and again highs of 30 degrees.
