Tokyo 2020 paratriathlon test shortened due to bad water quality

swimming section of a paratriathlon test event for Tokyo 2020 was cancelled Saturday due to high levels of bacteria in water, latest in a series of difficulties over water quality and temperature.

International Triathlon Union (ITU) shelved swimming leg after tests showed levels of e-coli more than double acceptable standard.

70 paratriathletes inste competed in a "duathlon" format with two runs and a bike race.

It was most recent disappointment at a test event for Tokyo 2020 organisers, after women's triathlon run was also cut short due to extreme heat in Japanese capital.

Despite this, French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand was taken to hospital with suspected heatstroke.

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Around a dozen competitors and spectators fell ill at a rowing test event, also due to high temperatures, as Tokyo swelters through a dely heatwave.

"I'm so sorry for athletes that we could t prepare competition conditions effectively," Shinichiro Otsuka, managing director of Japan's Triathlon Union, told reporters.

"It was regrettable," he said, vowing to step up preparations for Sunday's Mixed Relay, last in four-day competition.

Former British paralympic triathlete Clare Cunningham tweeted that staging a duathlon was "a completely different race" that "puts some athletes at a huge disvant racing in ir tri classification." 

"Disappointing for all," said Cunningham.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have won widespre praise for ir preparations but extreme summer heat and poor water quality have given m a heache at test events, with less than a year to go until Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Competitors at a marathon swimming test event on Sunday complained of smelly water and high water temperature at Odaiba Bay, location for long-distance swimming and triathlon.

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Organisers are desperate to avoid embarrassment of Rio Olympics in 2016, when pool used for diving events turned an unsettling she of green overnight.

Brazilian officials also h to scramble to clean up bay used for sailing and windsurfing that was plagued by sewer bacteria and filthy with rubbish.

In October 2017, Tokyo 2020 organisers were left red-faced after tests revealed levels of e-coli bacteria more than 20 times higher than international standards, sparking doubts about venue's safety.

At time, organising committee blamed prolonged summer rain that h brought pollutants from offshore for high reings between late July and early September.

A year later, organisers said that tests using underwater "screens" to filter water h successfully reduced bacteria levels at venue.

y tested single and triple-layer screens -- some 20 metres (66 feet) long and three metres wide -- and found that both were effective in bringing bacteria down to safe levels although triple screen, expected to be employed during games time, worked best.