The Men’s 50m Freestyle Final of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be held on Friday, August 2, 2024 (8/2/24) at the París La Défense Arena in Paris, France.

HOW TO WATCH: Fans can watch the event via a free trial DirecTV Stream or watch via subscription SlingTVOffering $25 off your first month.

Here’s what you need to know:

What: Men’s 50m Freestyle Final (medal competition)

WHO: Olympic swimmers

When: Friday, August 2, 2024

Where: Paris La Defense Arena

Time: 2:30 pm ET

TELEVISION: NBC

Channel finder: Verizon Fios, DirectTV Streaming, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Regulation, Optimum/Altice, Helmsman, DIRECTTV, Plate, Hulu, fuboTV, Sling.

Live broadcast: Sling ($25 off your first month), DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Here’s a recent report about the Olympics via the Associated Press:

PARIS (AP) — Concerns about water quality in the Seine River led authorities to cancel the swimming portion of the Olympic triathlon training session for the second day in a row Monday.

Organisers overseeing the event at the Paris Games are optimistic that triathletes will be able to swim the city’s famous waterway in competitions starting on Tuesday.

World Triathlon, the sport’s governing body, its medical team and city officials are counting on sunny weather and warmer temperatures to bring levels of E. coli and other bacteria below the required limits to hold the swim portion of the race (which also includes cycling and running).

World Triathlon decided to cancel swimming training early on Monday after a meeting on water quality in the Seine, which is closely linked to the weather. Rain smothered the opening ceremony on Friday and torrential downpours continued on Saturday, forcing the postponement of some tennis matches and the skateboarding competition.

Representatives of Paris 2024 and triathlon’s international federation said tests carried out on the Seine River on Sunday showed that water quality in the lead up to the training session “was not sufficient to guarantee the event’s running”. The panel blamed the recent rain.

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news channel CNEWS on Monday that authorities were “absolutely calm about all this”. She said plans they had put in place to control bacteria levels in the river were effective but that the weather was out of their control.

He said recent rains have caused concerns about water quality, but he believes the situation will improve.

“I’m sure we can be there tomorrow in the men’s triathlon competition,” he said.

Organisers say the backup plan is to postpone the events and if high bacteria levels persist the swimming portion of the race will be abandoned and athletes will compete in the duathlon.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned for more than a century, largely because of poor water quality. Organisers have invested 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to prepare the river ahead of the Olympics.

In addition to the swimming portion of the men’s triathlon on Tuesday, the women’s triathlon on Wednesday and the mixed triathlon relay on Monday, the Seine River is expected to be used for marathon swimming races on August 8 and 9.

Daily water quality tests in early June showed unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, after which there have been recent improvements. Some of the measures taken to improve water quality include building a giant basin to collect excess rainwater and prevent wastewater from flowing into the river, renovating sewage infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.

High levels of E. coli in water may indicate contamination from sewage. Most strains are harmless, and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others can be dangerous. Even a mouthful of contaminated water can cause diarrhea, and the germ can cause illnesses such as infections in the urinary tract or intestines.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a public swim in the river about two weeks before the start of the Olympic events, in an effort to ease concerns about whether the long-polluted waterway is clean enough to host swimming events.