- His values match: Triathlon races at Olympia confirmed
The men's Triathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris can take place with a one-day delay. Organizers announced that recent water samples from the Seine now allow the races to go ahead. This means there will be a double event today: the women will start at 8:00 AM with a dive into the Parisian river at the Pont Alexander III, and the men's race, which was postponed on Tuesday, will follow at 10:45 AM.
There had been concerns about the race in recent days. Heavy rain on Friday and Saturday contaminated the Seine's water, with microbiological tests showing that the cleanliness limits were exceeded for several days. As a result, both planned training sessions for men and women, and initially the men's competition, were cancelled. Frustration grew among those involved.
Six Germans are competing
The three German female triathletes, Laura Lindemann (Berlin), Lisa Tertsch (Darmstadt), and Nina Eim (Potsdam), as well as the male triathletes Tim Hellwig (Saarbrücken), Jonas Schomburg (Hannover), and Lasse Luhrs (Bonn), will only have a short warm-up swim before the start of the race to acclimate to the water conditions. The current, which is stronger than expected, is likely to pose challenges for the athletes. After 1.5 kilometers of swimming, there are still 40 kilometers of cycling and 10 kilometers of running to go.
If the water tests had shown an unacceptable value again, the races would likely have been postponed to Friday. There would then be a risk that there would be no swimming at all, and - according to the regulations - the Triathlon would become a Duathlon.
Despite the previous cancellations due to contaminated water, France remains the host country for the Triathlon event. The six German competitors are eager to participate in the rescheduled men's race, taking place at 10:45 AM in Paris, France.
