Team GB athletes 'unhappy' and 'very disappointed' as controversy causes chaos at Olympics

In a statement, organisers said heavy rain over Paris over the weekend had forced them to 'reschedule the event for health reasons'.

And Emmerson, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, has now revealed athletes are 'unhappy' and 'disappointed' with the decision.

"It's looking very eerie. There should have been an absolutely amazing atmosphere," she said.

"Lots of people have come out because they don't realise the triathlon has been postponed. The water doesn't look great and there is also a really strong current as well.

"They have said that the women's race will take place at eight o'clock in the morning [tomorrow] as was scheduled and then the men's at 10:45.

"I think it is slightly up in the air, it's 50/50 still but that's what they said at 03:30 this morning.

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"Strange time to make the decision as there were athletes that had gone to bed thinking they were getting up to do a triathlon today which is obviously not happening.

"A lot of very unhappy athletes, very disappointed with the decision that has been made.

"It is the right decision, of course. The athletes cannot swim here. In terms of the location and the choice of the venue, that is what is in question now.

"People have planned meticulously to start at 8am this morning and they are just going to have to make those changes and stay calm.

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"Some athletes will fare a lot better than others. Some will go with it and others will be pretty stressed by it."

Vicky Holland, who won bronze in the women's triathlon at Rio in 2016, has also branded the controversy 'not great'.

"It's of course not ideal in any way, this sort of thing to happen. Without wishing to make it a bigger deal than it is, it's not great," she said.

"It is something that has been spoken about endlessly, the water quality issues we've had here in Paris.

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"It's something we've known about for years, it's just not in the recent months. I do believe there had been a real attitude now, especially among the athletes and the British team that it will be alright on the day.

"Yes, there had been contingencies in place and we had planned that there might have to be a change, but I don't think anyone though it would happen, yet here we are.

"At the moment, the water quality at the moment isn't quite good enough.

"There had been a lot of rain around the opening ceremony and day one of competition. That's unfortunately washed a lot of stuff off the streets to the Seine, that's now coming through the river and we're hoping that it will pass in time for the water quality testing that will happen before tomorrow morning. We'll know in 24 hours whether that has happened.

"All being well, hopefully we will get two races out tomorrow. From an athlete point of view, the men just have to keep their nerve. It's only a 24 hour delay, not ideal, they've probably had a disrupted night's sleep.

"Right now, it is as much mental as it is physical."

Things could yet worsen, with thunder and lightning scheduled for Wednesday.

Some family members of Team GB stars are concerned they may not be able to watch their loved ones in action, with fears that their tickets might not be valid for the re-arranged time of Wednesday.