Olympic Games triathlon medal contender Marten Van Riel says the athletes are just “puppets in a puppetshow” as the events at Paris 2024 descend into chaos thanks to the water quality in the River Seine.

In the early hours of Tuesday organisers made the decision to postpone the men’s individual race to Wednesday, with E. coli levels in the iconic waterway meaning conditions were unsafe for the swim to take place.

That means the sport is one step closer to facing the dreaded scenario of being downgraded to a duathlon (run/bike/run). That will be the case if the water is unsafe on Wednesday and then again on the original reserve day – Friday August 2.

Right now the picture looks decidedly gloomy with the weather forecast for Paris worsening as the week goes on. Heavy rain remember can result in untreated sewage being washed into the waterway.

All this comes despite a much-vaunted clean-up operation costing $1.5bn which was designed to make the river swimmable for the first time in a century, and showcase it to the world on the biggest sporting stage.

On Tuesday morning Paris 2024 chiefs said in a media briefing that conditions outside their control (weather, climate change) were to blame for the high E. coli levels, and refused to apologise to athletes. They also said any downgrade to a duathlon would not be unfair to any athletes.

Van Riel hits out at Paris 2024 carnage

The 31-year-old Belgian star Van Riel, sixth at the Rio Games of 2016 and fourth in Tokyo in 2021, is clearly very unimpressed by the whole thing, responding to World Triathlon’s statement announcing the postponement on Instagram.

He said: “If the priority was the health of the athletes this event would have been moved to another location a long time ago. We are just puppets in a puppetshow.

“Duathlon is no triathlon and changing the day like that in the middle of the night is disrespectful to the years of preparation of the athletes and to all (y)our fans that were going to watch live or on tv. What an appearance for triathlon on the biggest scene!”

Stapley weighs in on debate

Another athlete to weigh in was British star Max Stapley, who replied: “Pathetic, 0 respect for athlete welfare and investment. Not being able to hold a triathlon in the country with the most tried and tested venues in the world is inexcusable.”