Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: All para-triathlon events will take place on September 1 due to weather

Les épreuves de para-triathlon auront lieu le dimanche 1er septembre. MAXPPP – Jens B?ttner

Les épreuves de para-triathlon aux Jeux paralympiques, qui devaient se dérouler sur deux jours les 1er et 2 septembre et en partie dans la Seine, ont finalement été regroupées sur une seule journée "au regard des prévisions météorologiques" ont annoncé les organisateurs jeudi.

“The eleven medal sessions will now take place on September 1st, and no longer over two days, September 1st and 2nd”, can be read in a press release from the Paris 2024 organizing committee.

A training session was held this morning

The decision was finalized Thursday morning in a meeting attended in particular by the World Triathlon Federation and the authorities involved in carrying out the water quality tests in the Seine.

"The decision to hold all events on a single day was taken in light of the weather forecast and in order to offer athletes and coaches as much certainty as possible", indicate the organizers who "continue to monitor the water quality and current daily".

A training session took place "successfully" on Thursday morning. New familiarization sessions are planned for Friday and Saturday, on the eve of the events. The quality of the Seine's water has been a hot topic of discussion for weeks, as swimming in the Parisian river is set to be part of the great legacies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Authorities monitor fecal bacteria levels

During the Olympics, several triathlon and open-water swimming training sessions were cancelled and the men's triathlon was postponed by a day due to water that was unsuitable for swimming. The blame lies with heavy rainfall.

To give the green light to the competitions, the authorities are closely monitoring two levels of fecal bacteria: E. Coli and enterococci.

On the ticketing side, Paris-2024 has announced that tickets purchased for the September 2 sessions will be “fully refunded” while people who purchased tickets for September 1 will be able to attend all the events.