Olympic triathlons to go ahead as Seine passes tests

The men’s and women’s Olympic triathlons will be allowed take place on Wednesday after tests showed the River Seine to be clean enough for competition.

It follows concerns they could follow the same fate as Tuesday’s men’s event, which was postponed due to the Seine’s water quality.

Organisers had previously said the events only had a 60% chance of going ahead after that was postponed.

Results from the latest water analyses, received at 03:20 on Wednesday, were deemed compliant by World Triathlon.

Great Britain’s Alex Yee is one of the favourites for gold in the men’s race, while team-mate Beth Potter is the reigning women’s world champion.

The event going ahead removes previous concerns it may have had to have been contested as a duathlon – with just swimming and cycling – as a last resort.

Daily tests of the Seine’s quality are carried out, with recent heavy rain causing the river to be too dirty for competition.

Earlier in the games, swimming training sessions were cancelled because of the water quality, but organisers were confident the triathlon events would go ahead as scheduled.

Tests are being carried out daily on the water quality in the Seine, which is also due to host the triathlon mixed relay on 5 August, the Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.

Swimming in the river has been prohibited for over 100 years because of its high levels of pollution and the risk of disease – but French authorities have invested heavily to make the Seine swimmable as part of the Games’ legacy.

Organisers said about 1.4bn euros (£1.2bn) had been spent on a regeneration project to make the Seine safe.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo recently swam in the river to highlight the clean-up efforts which have been undertaken and, earlier this month, tests showed the river was clean enough for swimming.

However, heavy rain in Paris on Friday and Saturday has caused the water quality to decline.

Thundery showers are forecast for Wednesday morning, following predicted high temperatures of up to 35C on Tuesday.

France currently lags behind the European Union’s average score for top-quality bathing water conditions.

Between 17-23 July, data showed that the river that dissects the French capital was suitable for swimming on six days out of seven.

As recently as June, levels of E coli were 10 times more than the acceptable level imposed by sports federations.