Triathlon at 2024 Olympics could become duathlon for incredibly grim reason
Concerns have been raised about the pollution levels in the River Seine
Paris' River Seine is causing issues for Olympic athletes.
Ahead of the Games starting last week, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo swam in the city's famous river to prove that it was safe to do so, after concerns were raised about its water quality.
A huge clean up was conducted in the Seine to make it swimmable for athletes, and while there were hopes that it would be safe enough, the future of the triathlon during this year's Olympics now hangs in the balance.
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Earlier today (July 30), it was announced that the men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics has been postponed because of concerns over the ongoing water quality in the River Seine.
Swimming training for the triathletes was cancelled on Sunday and Monday and the decision has been taken to move the men’s race, which had been due to start at 8am local time on Tuesday, to Wednesday.
It has been rescheduled to take place at 10.45am local time, after the women’s race which is scheduled to take place at 8am.
Addressing the postponement, a statement from World Triathlon read: "Tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held.
"Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits."
One of the main issues that people are worried about are the E. Coli levels in the water.
Depending on the strain of the E. Coli present, it could cause the athletes to fall ill with symptoms such as severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
It usually takes adults around a week to recover from the bacterial infection, but it could go on to cause life-threatening kidney failure in young children or elderly people, Mayo Clinic reports.
If the pollution levels do not improve, World Triathlon may opt to change the race to a duathlon instead.
Speaking at a press conference, World Triathlon president Marisol Casado explained that the organization has been forced to change events in recent years and credited climate change as a possibility for this.
"Unfortunately in the last five years we have had to change to duathlon to avoid cancelling the event, because if we cancel the event there are no medals or prize money in our [World Triathlon events]," Casado said.
"The climate has changed that we are facing.
"In some cases we have waves that are too high, in other moments we have electrical storms or something like that.
"We can finish and do a competition because our athletes really want to compete.
"I don't think it is unfair, it is another situation of the competition."
Paris 2024 sport director Aurelie Merle went on to say that it's a 'last resort' to change the event to duathlon.
She explained, as per Mail Online: "The difference with marathon swimming is that either you swim or you cancel the race, while in the triathlon you still have the opportunity as a last resort to move to a duathlon."
A decision about changing the event or not is expected to be made tomorrow (July 31).
Topics: Climate Change, News, France, Olympics, Sport
Niamh Shackleton