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Paris Paralympics triathlon postponed over River Seine pollution

Organisers of the Paris Paralympics were forced to call off a triathlon event after monitoring tests found the quality of the water in the River Seine was below standards set by the World Triathlon federation, apparently due to spillage following recent heavy rainfall.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

The Para-triathlon events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics have been postponed by 24 hours because of poor water quality in the River Seine, reports BBC News.

All 11 triathlon races had been due to take place on Sunday but heavy rain in Paris has caused water quality in the Seine to drop, World Triathlon said in a statement.

The events will now take place on Monday, subject to further tests.

It is the latest difficulty for Paris 2024 organisers surrounding Olympic and Paralympic events taking place in the River Seine.

The Olympic triathlon events were subject to several delays caused by heavy rain during the early stages of the Games.

And the Paralympic triathlon was originally supposed to take place over two days - Sunday 1 and Monday, 2 September - before all the events were switched to Sunday because of the forecast of bad weather.

That weather arrived earlier than expected, meaning the triathlon is now due to happen on Monday - the day initially vacated by organisers.

A statement from World Triathlon confirmed the decision to postpone was made after tests at 02:30 BST on Sunday - just under five hours before races were due to begin.

"The latest tests show a decrease in water quality in the river following the rain episodes over the last two days," the statement read, external.

Read more of this report from BBC News.