Triathlete Hayden Wilde goes to bed in Paris not knowing if he will race tomorrow. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand's Olympic triathletes have gone to bed in Paris preparing for a triathlon - but they won't know until they get up whether it is actually going ahead.
Olympic organisers postponed the men's triathlon and said there was a 60 percent chance of it going ahead on Wednesday evening NZ time, due to high pollution levels in the River Seine.
New Zealanders Hayden Wilde and Dylan McCullough were due to compete in the event.
Tests of the River Seine revealed the water was not clean enough for the race to take place. The men's and women's event could be run on the same day, starting around 6pm New Zealand Time tonight, or 8am Paris.
That means Wilde, McCullough and women Ainsley Thorpe and Nicole van der Kaay have gone to bed in Paris preparing for a race which may not eventuate.
Before the postponement, Wilde told RNZ the river's current was as much of a concern as the water quality.
Swimming training in the river was cancelled twice because of poor water quality.
Triathlon New Zealand chief executive Pete de Wet said Paris organisers would get the results of water testing around 3.30am Paris time (1.30pm NZ time).
"We get informed whether the race is going ahead about 40 minutes later.
"Fingers crossed it will get under way, certainly that is what we have been preparing for."
de Wet told Morning Report that the team is trying to remain focused and "fluid".
"These guys are sharp, elite athletes and they know what to do. We have had other events in the past where water quality is not sufficient and we have had to switch to a duathlon.
"We've done our homework - and they will be prepared."
He said that if the event kept getting postponed beyond the final reserve day on Friday, the organisers would make a call on whether to go ahead as a duathlon, dropping the swim leg.
After the Games, Triathlon NZ would formally ask organisers how this had happened and what could be done. But for now it was focused on keeping the triathletes ready despite what he called a "disruptive" event, de Wet said.
- RNZ / BBC
