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The men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics will not go ahead as planned as pollution levels in the River Seine remain too high, World Triathlon said in a statement.
The men's triathlon event was scheduled to take place this afternoon, Australian time, but has been rescheduled to tomorrow night, immediately after the women's event.
The decision is a blow to organisers who previously said they were confident water quality would improve in time for the race after heavy rains last Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.
ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics
The 55 triathletes who were primed to compete on Tuesday now face more uncertainty.
"Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits," organisers said.
World Triathlon will meet with coaches at 8am on Tuesday, local time, to provide them with all the information and the updated schedule for the race, they said.
If levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning, both the men's and women's races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events.
The mixed triathlon relay event could be postponed to the following day, as part of contingency plans.
Paris authorities have promised to make the Seine swimmable as a key legacy of the Games, and spent 1.4 billion euros on wastewater infrastructure to contain sewage and minimise spillage into the waterway.
Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, took a dip in the river herself earlier this month, in a bid to convince doubters.
The gamble that the river would be clean enough for the triathlon was never guaranteed to pay off, especially as water quality varies widely day-to-day.
Rain significantly increases concentrations of infection-causing bacteria like E. coli and enterococci.
ABC/Reuters
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