Team South Africa’s medal hope in the triathlon Henri Schoeman will have to wait another day to get cracking at the Paris Olympics after unsafe pollution levels in the River Seine forced the postponement of the men’s event.
The triathlon was called off just hours before the start after last-minute water quality tests.
AFP reported that joint statement from Paris 2024 and World Triathlon blamed the spike in pollution levels on the heavy rain that fell in the French capital on Friday and Saturday.
"The tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality levels that did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held," organisers said after a meeting held at 3:30am local time.
The men's triathlon has now been rescheduled to take place on Wednesday, immediately after the women's event.
#Paris2024 Triathlon postponed because the River Seine is too polluted and risky for swimmers - after €1.4bn was spent trying to clean it up.
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) July 30, 2024
Organisers say decision to protect “health of the athletes”
pic.twitter.com/xQVSMdrPGJ
However the prospect of more storms hitting Paris on Tuesday raises serious question marks over whether Wednesday's events will be held as scheduled.
Benjamin Maze, the technical director of the French Triathlon Federation, told FranceInfo radio that there was "a bit of anger" among competitors who had risen early only to learn of the postponement.
"The athletes got up a bit before 4am, they were having breakfast when we received the information from the international federation," he said. "Obviously there's a bit of anger and a lot of disappointment."
SOUTH AFRICANS IN ACTION ON TUESDAY, JULY 30
Triathlon
Men's Individual: Henri Schoeman and James Riddle (postponed until Wednesday)
DAY 4
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) July 30, 2024
Get all the results on all our social platforms#TeamSA #ForMyCountry #Olympics pic.twitter.com/G6wzD1SxQb
Rowing
Women's single sculls quarter-finals, 10am: Paige Badenhorst
Men’s Hockey:
10.30am: South Africa vs Germany
Swimming
Men's 200m butterfly heats, 11am: Matthew Sates
Cycling
BMX Freestyle, from 3.11pm: Vincent Leygonie
Rugby: Sevens
11th place playoff, 4.30pm: SA women v Fiji
Surfing
Women's playoffs, from 9.24pm: Sarah Ann Baum
Additional reporting by AFP
@JohnGoliath82