Sorry is the hardest word for Paris Olympics organisers once again as exaggerated excuses of rainfall are used to postpone triathlon events - with the River Seine STILL not safe to swim in, writes MIKE KEEGAN

The reasoning stank almost as much as the scandal itself. ‘The equivalent of July rainfall fell in just 36 hours,’ Paris 2024 official Anne Descamps told reporters when asked why – once again – triathlon events in the River Seine were postponed.

‘Twenty-five millimetres,’ she added, ‘which is a lot’. It is a lot but it is not the equivalent of a month’s worth in the French capital. 

In July, the Met Office says Paris experiences 73mm, second only to December - and almost three times the figure quoted. It rains more in Paris in July than it does in London.

Which is one of the central points. They may blame it on the weather, but how on earth did organisers not see this coming? The mens’ triathlon, cancelled on Tuesday morning, is now due to take place after the womens’ on Wednesday, should the presence of E.Coli in the famous river finally fall to acceptable levels. 

Those involved in this sad episode continue to say that the downpours that impacted Friday’s Opening Ceremony and disrupted Saturday’s are behind repeated cancellations that have seen both practice days cancelled and the men’s event put back 24 hours.

The squeezing together, should it happen, means thousands who paid for tickets, flights and hotels to watch the world’s best males, will no longer be able to attend because they can’t clear the galleries in time after their female counterparts have finished. Families and friends of athletes are also facing a scramble for a seat.

And then there is that weather. With the men now starting at the later time of 10.45am there are concerns that when they pull on their running shoes at around midday after having swum 1,500 metres and pedalled 40km, temperatures will be in the 30s. 

Organisers say extra water stations have been installed in case heat becomes a problem. Storms have also been forecast, and the prospect of further rainfall means a backup date of Friday may be needed. 

They may even give up on the Seine completely, despite the £1bn spent cleaning it up, drop the swimming section and make it a duathlon, which kills the competitors for whom swimming is their strongest discipline. 

'It’s the same condition for everyone,’ said Marisol Cusado, president of World Triathlon, helpfully, when asked about that.

Those present at a press conference at the media centre, were also asked if, by choosing a river in which swimming had been banned for 100 years, they had put aesthetics above the athletes. 

Aurelie Merle, executive director of sport for Paris 2024, again pointed the finger at Mother Nature. 

‘Unfortunately as mentioned they are getting meteorological events outside of our control,’ she said, before branding the rainfall ‘humongous’ and adding ‘we can’t control the weather’. 

Aside from dodgy stats and weather moans, there was again the lack of any apology. For two days in succession Mail Sport has asked. For two days in succession none has been forthcoming. 

This time, the IOC’s sports director Kit McConnell, a former rugby World Cup tournament director, said he would ‘pass it to the Paris side’.

Merle did say they were ‘very sympathetic’ but, again, sorry seemed to be the hardest word.