The event is now set for Wednesday after officials blamed the rain for the delay. France has put $1.5 billion toward cleaning up the Seine, an effort sped up to meet Olympic competition deadlines.
The men’s triathlon race, set to take place Tuesday morning, has been delayed a day due to unsafe water pollution levels in the River Seine, Olympics organizers said.
But the International Olympic Committee and World Triathlon, the sport’s governing body, said on Tuesday that tests taken in the morning “revealed water quality levels that did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held.”
Officials blamed “meteorological events beyond our control” for the delay, citing the rain that fell on Friday (the day of the opening ceremony) and Saturday.
While water quality had improved since then, readings at some points on the swim course remained above acceptable levels, they said.
