Paris, 31 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) — Olympics organizers confirmed that triathletes will compete on Wednesday, after the men's event had to be postponed after the River Seine was not deemed clean enough to swim in.

Organizers said that "the women's and the men's triathlons will go ahead as planned on 31 July at 8am and 10.45am respectively" following a "meeting on water quality" held at 3:30 am (0130 GMT).

"The results of the latest water analyses, received at 3.20am, have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place," organizers said in a statement.

"We will swim," World Triathlon wrote in a brief post on social media platform X early on Wednesday. The post also included an emoji to represent a face with a look of triumph.

The men's event had originally been scheduled for Tuesday but was moved because "water quality levels did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held."

Had the water quality not improved, the events could have been moved to Friday. The last resort was to drop the swim portion and contesting a duathlon of cycling and running.

World Triathlon president Marisol Casado had expressed disappointment at the postponement but said that there have been events which had to be held in a duathlon format, and that they are also adapting to climate change.

France has made huge efforts over the years to improve the water quality of the Seine, investing around €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) over recent years to try to use the river for Olympic events, which also include next week's open water swimming.

Daily tests determined it was safe to swim in shortly before the start of the Games - with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and organizing committee chief Tony Estanguet taking the plunge to boost overall confidence earlier this month.

But the rain which also marred Friday's opening ceremony increased the levels of faecal, or E. coli, bacteria – forcing triathlon swim training to be cancelled on Sunday and Monday, and the men's race on Tuesday.