New Delhi: Triathlon at Paris Olympics began on Wednesday with women athletes diving into the Seine river in a major relief to organisers after concerns over poor water quality in the build-up to the competition.
Training was cancelled and the men’s race had to be postponed on Tuesday as the water of the river was found to be too dirty for athletes after rainstorms lashed Paris last week.
On Wednesday, World Triathlon and the Paris Games’ organising committee announced that the triathlon event would begin with the women’s race followed by the men’s event.
“The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3.20 am, have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place,” a statement from Paris 2024 organisers said.
Overnight it rained but when the atheletes dived into the river at the Pont Alexandre III bridge the shower had stopped. The women’s event began with a 1,500m swim, in two laps with and against the current.
Paris 2024 organisers undertook an infrastructure improvement project of $1.5 billion to clean up the polluted water of the river.
But rainfall leading to wastewater flowing into the river affected the water quality. Heavy showers fell during the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday and steady downpour continued for the better part of Saturday.
However, organisers had expressed confidence that despite cancellations and postponements swimming would happen in the Seine river and when Wednesday’s test results showed compliance with acceptable standards it was decided to begin the competition.
Training was cancelled and the men’s race had to be postponed on Tuesday as the water of the river was found to be too dirty for athletes after rainstorms lashed Paris last week. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
