Green light for the triathlon competitions at the Olympics: A water sample from the Seine comes back positive. This means that there will now be a double event.
The men’s triathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris can take place one day late. The organizers announced that the latest water tests in the Seine now allow the races to take place. This means that there will be a double event today: at 8:00 a.m. the women will start their race with a jump into the Paris river at Pont Alexander III. The men’s race, which was canceled on Tuesday, will then take place at 10:45 a.m.
In recent days there had been concerns about the race. The rain on Friday and Saturday had polluted the water in the Seine. Microbiological samples taken over several days showed that the cleanliness limits had been exceeded. As a result, both planned training sessions for the men and women were cancelled, and initially the men’s competition was cancelled as well. The frustration among those involved grew.
Olympia 2024: Six Germans to compete in the Triathlon
The three German triathletes Laura Lindemann (Berlin), Lisa Tertsch (Darmstadt) and Nina Eim (Potsdam), as well as Tim Hellwig (Saarbrücken), Jonas Schomburg (Hannover) and Lasse Lührs (Bonn) only have a short warm-up swim before the start of the race to adjust to the conditions in the water. The current, which is more intense than expected, is likely to pose a challenge for the athletes. After 1500 meters of swimming, there are still 40 kilometers of cycling and 10 kilometers of running to do.
If the water tests had again shown an inadmissible value, the races would probably have been postponed until Friday. The risk would then have increased that no swimming would take place at all and – according to the rules – the triathlon would become a duathlon.
Source: Stern
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