new postponement, duathlon… Possible scenarios if the water quality of the Seine does not improve

With more storms expected in Paris on Tuesday, the triathlon, now scheduled for Wednesday morning, could be postponed again. If the situation still does not improve, the swim would be canceled.

A headache for the organization of the Games. While the Seine displays pollution above the required standards after the rains of the last few days, the men’s triathlon, scheduled for Tuesday, July 30 at 8 a.m., has been postponed to Wednesday, July 31 at 10:45 a.m., after the women’s race. But the athletes will not know until Wednesday, around 4 a.m., whether the race will go ahead. If this is not the case, two other scenarios are possible.

In the best case scenario, both races would be rescheduled for Friday, August 2, at the scheduled times: 8 a.m. for the women, 10:45 a.m. for the men. If the Seine has not returned to swimmable conditions by then, the triathlon will still take place on Friday, August 2, at the Pont Alexandre-III. No fallback location has been considered.

In this case, swimming, which starts the triathlon, would be cancelled. The race would then be transformed into a duathlon. That is to say, a sequence of running (5 to 10 km), cycling (40 km) and running again (5 to 10 km). A scenario that would obviously disadvantage the best swimmers, even if we want to be confident on the organizers’ side. They assure that, despite the postponement of Tuesday’s race, the water quality of the Seine has improved in recent hours. The storm expected on Tuesday could make them review their plans again.