Olympic Triathlon preview: Who, what, where and how to watch

Ever since the first triathlon events took place at the Sydney Games in 2000, triathlon has enjoyed a spotlight around the world as all eyes focus on the sport’s elite draft-legal triathletes. This year’s Games in Paris promise to be a showcase in other ways, too – in addition to the exciting racing, fans will see the athletes fly by some of the city’s most spectacular attractions. To do all that, organizers looked to have the swim take place in the River Seine, which has proved to be a bit of a challenge as heavy rains have affected the water quality.
Olympic triathlon practice session cancelled again due to poor water quality in the Seine
Olympic organizers remain confident, though, that there will be a swim in the Seine for the triathlon event at some point this week. Whether it’s tomorrow will remain a bit up in the air – the fall-back dates are August 1 and 2. (That would probably still give the athletes enough time to recover for the mixed relay, which is slated for August 5.
Who
There are a total of 110 athletes who will participate in the triathlon, 55 women and 55 men. For the individual race, athletes must be born on or before Dec. 21, 2006 (they’ll be at least 18) and to be part of the mixed relay they need to be born on or before Dec. 31, 2009 (at least 15).
Qualification for the Games is a complicated process. Athletes earn Olympic qualification points through races until May 27. Athletes can qualify for the Games as individuals or as part of a country’s mixed relay team. While athletes are out there earning qualifying points, the spots they earn actually go to their country, which means the final selection is determined by the national governing body. A country can have up to a maximum of three qualifiers if they have three athletes ranked in the top 30 of the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking.
Unfortunately Canada only qualified three athletes this year, so the country won’t be involved in the mixed relay next week.
When
There will be three days of Olympic triathlon racing in Paris. Barring a delay because of the water quality, here’s the schedule:
Individual Men: July 30, 8 am local time (2 am EST)
Individual Women: July 31, 8 am local time (2 am EST)
Mixed Relay: August 5, 8 am local time (2 am EST)
How to watch:
For those in North America ready for an all-nighter, the event will be streamed or broadcast on a variety of Olympic partners. In Canada it will be streamed live on CBC.ca, while in the US you’ll be able to follow the coverage on NBCUniversal.
Race distances
Individual race:
- 1,500 m swim (910 m first lap, 590 m second lap)
- 40 km bike (seven laps of a 5.715 km course)
- 10 km run (four laps of a 2.5 km course)
Mixed Relay:
Each team consists of four athletes, alternating between men and women. Each athlete completes a:
- 300 m swim
- 5.8 km bike
- 1.8 km run
Course

The race begins on a floating pontoon below the Pont Alexandre III bridge. There’s quite a current in the river, which will make the positioning for the start an important part of the day. The athletes finish the swim and run up 32 stairs to the transition on the bridge.
The bike course begins along the Avenue Winston Churchill, passing the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais before turning along the Champs-Elysees and Avenue Montainge, crossing the Seine River along the Pont des Invalades to get to the Quai d’Orsay. The course then follows the Boulevard Saint-Germain, then follows the Seine once again along the Rue du Bac, the Quai Anatole France and Quai d’Orsay. The seven lap course includes sections over cobbles.
Once finished the bike course, the athletes return to transition for the four-lap run course through the heart of the city, finishing on the Pot Alexandre III bridge.
“The course of the triathlon and Para triathlon events in Paris is just everything that the family of triathlon has been dreaming of for years,” says Marisol Casado, President of World Triathlon and IOC member. “The heartbeat of the city will be echoed in the rhythm of the race, as athletes swim, bike and run right through the heart of the City of Lights.”
The Seine
Olympic triathlon practice session cancelled again due to poor water quality in the Seine
That legacy of a cleanup of the Seine River hasn’t gone exactly according to plan, so there’s a chance that the swim will need to be cancelled for the race. For last year’s test event, the elite individual races did include the swim, but the swim was cancelled for the Para and mixed relay races.
The hope is that five different projects designed to increase the capacity of the sewage network would reduce amount of pollution going into the river and make the water safe for swimming. There’s also a new reservoir being constructed which should be able to store and treat water from the river, and milliions of Euros are being spent on connecting homes to the new sewage networks.
The fear, though, is that heavy rain might overwhelm the system and reduce the water quality, which would force organizers to cancel the swim.
Stay tuned for more coverage from here in Paris, including a men’s preview. Will we see the men race tomorrow morning?