YORK's Sam Dickinson has been forced to wait to get his Paris Olympics campaign underway after the Men's Triathlon was postponed.

Scheduled to take place at 8am this morning, the race was cancelled due to concerns over the water quality in the River Seine.

The triathlon will now begin tomorrow morning at 10:45am local time, with the women's race taking place at 8am.

Swimming training had already been cancelled for athletes on Sunday and Monday, with concerns said to have been heightened following heavy rain in the French capital, notably during the Games' opening ceremony last Friday.

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A statement from World Triathlon said Friday remains a contingency day if one or both of the races are unable to go ahead tomorrow.

"Tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held," it said.

"Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits."

More than a billion euros was spent on cleaning up the river in preparation for the Games, but organisers knew heavy rain in the days prior to the competition could cause E.Coli levels to rise.

Britain's Alex Yee is one of the favourites to take gold in the men's race as he looks to upgrade his silver medal from Tokyo three years ago.

And whilst Dickinson, who beat Jonny Brownlee to the final Olympic qualification spot, admits his game plan works in conjunction with Yee, he insists he is much more than just his pilot.

“I have been picked predominantly for the relay, but from a personal development point of view, I still need to use this experience to maximise my own individual race," he explained.

"We have guidelines to race, we’ll race intelligently with each other.

“I have my own set of boundaries which I need to hit, I have my own specific goals in the race which I need to hit as well. I’m not just diving in blind - I’ll look to fulfil my own race processes too.

“We’re very well prepared for what we have to deal with on the day and I’m looking forward to it.”

Dickinson has an excellent chance for a medal when the triathlon mixed-team relay takes place on Monday (August 5).