The World Triathlon said that pollution levels remain too high in the River Seine following the heavy rain on 26 and 27 July. The decision was made with Paris 2024 organisers.

The Men's Triathlon event, featuring Australians Matthew Hauser and Luke Willian, has been rescheduled to take place at 645pm Wednesday (AEST), immediately after the women's event at 4pm.

Both events are subject to forthcoming water tests, with the Australian women competing being Natalie Van Coevorden and Sophie Linn.

Anna welcomed the decision to prioritise athlete health and well-being. The contingencies and postponement will provide the best chance for a full triathlon rather than a duathlon (no swim). 

“While we know that this wasn't the result that everyone wanted,” Anna said. “We knew that these contingencies were in place, and the most important thing that has happened here is that the welfare and the well-being of the athletes has been taken into consideration.

“There are some locations in the river where results would be sufficient for racing, however the consistency of testing right across-the-board shows that the levels aren't quite there yet and that's why the decision has been made to postpone it.

“No matter what the outcome our athletes are ready to compete.”

It is hoped that another 24 hours will be able to clear those conditions before the potential of more rain late Wednesday in Paris. Friday is another possible contingency day for the sport.

“There is the possibility of a duathlon as a last resort. At the moment they really want to be able to offer a triathlon for both the men's and women's competitions.

"The delay is the first step into what that process looks like, so we're not quite there yet in terms of the duathlon, we would like to see the triathlon going off tomorrow,” Anna said. 

Asked why the organising committee didn’t have an alternate plan in place, Anna confirmed that this course is where the athletes want to compete.

“The athletes are actually really excited to be showcased in a venue like the River Seine, and across the most iconic venues in the city of Paris,” Anna said.

“This is potentially going to have 250,000 fans and spectators to the men's and women's triathlon because its a free event. The city is looking forward to it, the world's looking forward to it and the athletes are really looking forward to having that stage to perform. They actually want to swim in the river and they want to compete on the banks of the river.”

The Australian Head Coach was confident that the Australian triathletes had the resilience, experience and support to cope with the changes.

“We've come through a pretty adaptable period in life at the moment with COVID and we've had a couple of events already this year postponed or cancelled with an hour's notice, so our guys are really adaptable,” Dan said.

“We had an event cancelled a couple of years ago because there was a crocodile up at Port Douglas, so you know they're Australians. The boys get to have an extra three hours to sleep now, so they were pretty happy about that.

“We've got an opportunity to swim and run and ride hopefully around the Arc de Triomphe, up the Champs-élysées and the Eiffel Tower in the background. That's something we want to do and if it ends up being a duathlon and we have to park the swim, then we'll just park the swim.

“We've got to take on all the medical advice from World Triathlon and the IOC, and they're doing everything possible to keep the athletes safe and healthy, and I'm okay with that.”

AOC