The men's Olympic triathlon has been postponed due to poor water quality in the Seine River just hours before it was set to begin.
Hayden Wilde and Dylan McCullough were due to compete for New Zealand at 6pm today NZT.
A decision was made at 4:15am local time – ahead of the event’s scheduled start time at 8am.
Training sessions in the Seine have already been cancelled twice recently due to the poor water quality exacerbated by recent heavy rain in Paris.
The men’s event will now be held tomorrow at 10.45am local time (8.45pm NZT), directly after the women’s event at 8am (6pm NZT).
A statement from World Triathlon said Saturday remains a contingency day if one or both of the races are unable to go ahead.
"Tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held," read the statement.
"Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits."
More than one billion euros ($NZ1.8 billion) was spent on cleaning up the river in preparation for the Games, but organisers knew heavy rain in the days before a competition could cause the levels of the harmful bacteria E. Coli to rise.
There was hope the effects of the deluge that marred Saturday's opening ceremony would have passed in time but that has not been the case.
Britain's Alex Yee is one of the favourites for gold in the men's race but he must wait for his moment, while attention now switches to whether the water will be safe for the women's race.
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