OLYMPIC triathlon training in the River Seine in Paris was cancelled for the second day in a row because of pollution.
Days of persistent rain meant levels of fecal bacteria and intestinal enterococci were dangerously high and a threat to health on Monday, just as they were on Sunday.
After a meeting with the Olympic organising committee, local authorities and Meteo-France, the International Triathlon Federation took the decision to cancel.
“The water is not suitable for entry – a familiarisation session will not go ahead this morning,” said an official.
But the organisers still remain “very confident” that the triathlon events proper will still be held in the river on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It was warm and sunny in Paris on Monday, and the forecast is for more good weather.
The men’s event is due to start at the famous Pont Alexandre III, close to the Eiffel Tower, at 8am on Tuesday, while the women’s event will start the next day.
The triathlon is set to be the first Olympic discipline to be held in the Seine, before the open water swimming in the second week of the summer Olympics.
The official said: “We are confident that water quality will return below the limits that are a threat to health before the start of the triathlon competitions on July 30.”
The water level in the centre of Paris is three times higher than the usual summer level because there has been so much rain in recent days, said the official.
Much of it fell during the Olympics Opening Ceremony last Friday.
Water quality is linked to the weather and levels of fecal bacteria known as E. coli are measured daily.
It follows the equivalent of some £1billion being spent by the French authorities in trying to make the river clean for the Olympics.
A giant installation built under Austerlitz station is technically redirecting pollution away from the river and to a processing plan.
President Emmanuel Macron himself was so confident the plan would work that he has pledged to don his Speedos to go swimming, but has yet to do so.
His Sports Minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera, said: “I have confidence in the ambitious action plan – one that cost €1.3bn – and which has been going on for three years.”
