Paris Olympics 2024: Triathletes battle against Seine river currents

Strong currents in the river Seine are a problem for triathletes competing at the Paris Olympics. Photo / Getty Images

Olympic athletes competing in the men’s and women’s triathlons in Paris have been battling against a strong current in the river Seine, with images showing swimmers slowly powering forward.

Kiwi triathletes Hayden Wilde and Nicole van der Kaay spoke to Radio New Zealand about the strong currents ahead of the races, saying they were as much an issue as the earlier publicised concerns about water quality.

Wilde and van der Kaay said the currents in the Seine were nearly three times as strong as the ones they usually encounter in races.

Wilde told First Up he had been training extra hard to compensate for the stronger current.

“That [the current] can cause some problems because it makes the swim a lot harder. I’ve sacrificed a lot to get where I am now. There was a lot of work that I put in, a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” Wilde said.

Van der Kaay told First Up the current was more of a concern than the water quality.

“It’s going to play a lot into the swim. There’s currents, there’s different directions – it’s going to be a tricky swim,” she said.

“It’s unpredictable where the eddies are. It’s going to be a very big element, and it’s going to be very hard swimming back upstream.”

Athletes crash during bike race

Athletes in the cycling section of the women’s triathlon were troubled by slick road conditions, with several crashes caught on camera.

Former British triathlete Annie Emerson told the BBC: “There is grease on the road and that is causing upsets that we have seen in the race.

Lotte Miller, of Norway, after a fall during the women's individual triathlon in Paris. Photo / Getty Images

“I don’t remember a race where I have seen so many athletes go down”.

Laura Lindemann, of Germany, who was part of the leading 10 on the bike section, slipped on a corner and dropped from the front pack.

Kiwi Ainsley Thorpe was involved in a pile-up and Vittoria Lopes, of Brazil, also took a tumble, with both athletes falling down the pecking order as a result.

Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto, of Colombia, holds her thigh after falling from her bike on the slippery streets of Paris during today's triathlon action. Photo / Getty Images

How to follow Olympics 2024

The Herald will have live updates running throughout the entire Olympics, while you can listen to commentary on Gold Sport. You can catch all the action on Sky Sport. Every event on Sky can also be watched via streaming on Sky Sport Now or Sky Go.

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.