It’s as embarrassing as it is painful: World Triathlon was still so announcing that Paralympians would have clarity about their Paralympic Triathlons much earlier in advance and not – as happened two weeks ago at the Olympics – have to be decided on race day that a race would not go ahead or a different format would have to be used, but it turns out to be empty words. Today, just a few hours before the Paralympic Triathlons were to take place, the decision was made to postpone the races to tomorrow.
The postponement has to do with the heavy rainfall of the past two days, once again making the water quality in the Seine far too poor for swimming. This is not surprising; water quality was already a major problem during the Olympics, and for more than a century it has not been safe to swim in the French river. Just two days ago, the decision was made to have the Paralympic Triathlons all take place on Sunday, Sept. 1, in stead of racing on both Sunday September 1 and Monday September 2. Now all races are scheduled for Monday, September 2.
