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Mike Chan

The men’s triathlon event involving Hong Kong’s Jason Ng Tai-long could become a duathlon, his coach says, because of the continued concerns over pollution in the River Seine.
Scheduled to be held on Tuesday morning Paris time, the men’s triathlon event has been postponed by a day and is now pencilled in to run straight after the women’s edition.
The event would see an Olympic debut for Ng, but Hong Kong triathlon’s head coach, Andrew Wright, said further postponements could be necessary.
“Basically they say [Wednesday] is the best window they have to run a triathlon event,” he said. “If it doesn’t go ahead they will try to run the race on the backup date on August 2.
“If on Friday they can’t run a triathlon, it will be a duathlon and at this stage, it seems like a duathlon is 50-50.”

The 40-year-old added that he was surprised the men’s event was eventually postponed at the eleventh hour.
“They seemed very confident the last couple of days that, with the great weather we have had, the bacteria levels would be fine,” Wright said. “With rain forecast, however, I think it’s likely to be postponed again.”
But the city’s head coach remained unfazed about the disruptions.
“Stress only makes things worse, to be honest,” he said. “I have thanked the Covid times for the lessons in patience and resilience. Nothing compares.”
While Ng’s strength, according to Wright, remained “pretty similar” among the three disciplines of swim, bike and run, he predicted a run-bike-run duathlon was likely to “mess up” the podium at the Paris Olympics because of its unpredictability.
“Essentially what a triathlon is in my eyes is a swim-bike warm-up followed by a run race,” the Hong Kong-born Wright said. “You have to be good enough to keep up in the swim and bike but the run is where the race is at.

“It’s much more likely the medal positions will be affected as there will be fast runners there who either usually cannot keep up in the swim or the swim zaps their energy.
“It would be a pity for everyone as duathlon isn’t our sport and we for sure prefer a triathlon event but Ng’s swim-bike is strong enough to be up there at the top of the field.”
Whilst the Paris government had spent the past few months trying to elevate the water quality at the Seine, Wright recalled that at the Rio de Janeiro Games eight years ago, the organisers also faced a the same kind of dilemma because of issues at Fort Copacabana.
“In 2016, they had similar concerns with water quality leading into the games,” he said. “They were also preparing a backup duathlon in Rio but in the end, [the triathlon] went ahead.
“The World Series race in Abu Dhabi in May was also cancelled because of a rainstorm to protect the athletes’ safety.”
The Seine is also due to used for the outdoor marathon swimming event. The women’s marathon kicks off a week on Thursday with the men’s event a day later.
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Hong Kong triathlete Jason Ng is waiting to find out when, and in what form, his event will take place. Photo: Instagram/jason_ng_tai-long)

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Jason Ng, seen here outside the Olympic Village, was supposed to compete on Tuesday. Photo: Instagram/jason_ng_tai-long)

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Hong Kong’s Jason Ng is among the triathletes affected by the pollution in the River Seine. Photo: Jason Ng Instagram (@jason_ng_tai_long)

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Jason Ng, seen training in Switzerland, was set to dive into the River Seine on Tuesday. Photo: Instagram/jason_ng_tai_long

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Sport

Paris Olympics 2024

Hong Kong

Scheduled to be held on Tuesday morning in Paris, the event has been postponed by a day and now scheduled to run just after the women’s race


Scheduled to be held on Tuesday morning in Paris, the men’s event has been postponed by a day and is now scheduled to run straight after the women’s edition.


Triathlon