Olympics test event cancelled yet again

PARIS: The swimming stage of a triathlon in Paris’s Seine River was cancelled on Sunday due to pollution, organisers announced, raising further questions about holding competitions there during the 2024 Olympics.

The mixed relay triathlon is the third pre-Olympics test event to be affected by excessive E. coli bacteria in the water, but organisers insist the Seine will be fit to host events next year.

The triathlon was changed to a duathlon only involving cycling and running after analyses of the water quality did not offer the "necessary guarantees", said the Paris Olympics organising committee and governing body World Triathlon.

The same solution was reached for a para-triathlon test event on Saturday, while the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup was cancelled altogether earlier this month.

As organisers investigated the source of Saturday’s elevated E. coli readings Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris 2024 organising committee, stressed there was no "Plan B" for next year’s sporting extravaganza.

"There is no solution to move the event, the triathlon and open water swimming will be held in the Seine next year," he insisted.