Triathlon has been an Olympic sport since its debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.[1] Its inclusion in the Summer Olympic Games program was the quickest of any sport:[2] the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in 1989 and five years later, on 4 September 1994, triathlon's Olympic status was approved by the 103rd International Olympic Committee Session, in Paris.[3] The variant contested at the Olympics (called Olympic distance) is composed of a 1,500-meter (4,921 ft) swim, followed by a 40-kilometer (25 mi) bicycle race, and a final 10 km (6 mi) run leg. The distances were chosen based on the resulting format to be a challenge for participants (sprint triathletes as well as endurance competitors) and entertaining for spectators all over the world.[4]
History
editEarly editions : Canada, New Zealand and Australia lead the charge, Alpine glory for women.
editFrom 2000, the triathlon competition consisted of a men's and a women's event. A third event, the mixed medley relay involving four triathletes each covering the sprint distance, was introduced in 2021.[5] The inaugural women's event was the first to be contested during the Sydney Games, and crowned Swiss triathlete Brigitte McMahon as the first Olympic champion, over the heavy-favorite Australians.[6] The following day, Simon Whitfield of Canada, who was not considered one of the favorites, came from behind and took the men's gold medal with a 200-meter sprint finish.[7] In similar fashion, long-distance specialist Kate Allen of Austria secured the women's Olympic title in 2004.[8] New Zealand placed two male triathletes in the top two, as Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty won the gold and silver medals, respectively.[9] At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Whitfield was on the verge of repeating his 2000 success, but failed to keep his lead over Jan Frodeno of Germany in the final meters, who pipped the Canadian to the gold medal.[10] The Australian power in women's triathlon was rewarded at the Beijing Games, when three-time world champion and favorite Emma Snowsill clinched the gold medal and Emma Moffatt secured the bronze.[11]
After securing a second career Olympic medal in Beijing, Simon Whitfield (one gold and one silver) and Bevan Docherty (one silver and one bronze) were the only triathletes to have won more than one Olympic medal.[10]
2012 onwards : Great Britain control, Bermuda wins first gold and France ascends.
editDespite having a number of world champions in the sport, before the home games of 2012, Great Britain had failed to win a single medal in the sport at Olympic level. This changed dramatically in 2012 itself when the Leeds-based brothers, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee took gold and bronze in the men's individual event with a surging run, in the company of Spanish silver medalist Javier Gómez. In Rio 2016, the brothers both returned to the Olympic event, sweeping the podium with Alistar claiming gold and Jonathan silver. In the women's race, GB also made it to the podium with bronze for Vicky Holland, behind Nicola Spirig Hug claiming silver. The champion of the women's race that year was USA's Gwen Jorgensen.
In 2021 at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, Jonathan Brownlee became the first triathlete to win three medals, help leading Great Britain to victory in the inaugural mixed relay event in a team composed of individual silver medalists Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown. These athletes joined the two-medal club along with Katie Zaferes of the United States.
In 2024, both races took place on the same day since the men's race, initially scheduled a day prior, was rescheduled due to poor water quality in the Seine. In the women's race, home favorite Cassandre Beaugrand took the women's title, claiming France's first Olympic medal in the sport on home soil. Switzerland's Julie Derron won silver, crossing the finish line right ahead of Beth Potter, who was one of the top seeds after winning the Paris test event in 2023. In the men's race, in a shocking finish closing a fifteen-second gap in the last 400m of the race,[12] Alex Yee claimed gold after passing a close rival, Hayden Wilde of New Zealand. France's Léo Bergère claimed bronze, the first male French medalist in the Olympic event.
Men
editIndividual
edit
Women
editIndividual
edit
Mixed
editTeam relay
edit
Statistics
editMultiple medalists
edit| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Yee |  Great Britain (GBR)
|
2020–2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Alistair Brownlee | Great Britain (GBR)
|
2012–2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Jonny Brownlee | Great Britain (GBR)
|
2012–2020 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Georgia Taylor-Brown | Great Britain (GBR)
|
2020–2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 5 | Simon Whitfield |  Canada (CAN)
|
2000–2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Nicola Spirig |  Switzerland (SUI)
|
2012–2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 7 | Cassandre Beaugrand |  France (FRA)
|
2020–2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Taylor Knibb |  United States (USA)
|
2020–2024 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Morgan Pearson | United States (USA)
|
2020–2024 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 10 | Hayden Wilde |  New Zealand (NZL)
|
2020–2024 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bevan Docherty | New Zealand (NZL)
|
2004–2008 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Katie Zaferes | United States (USA)
|
2020 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 13 | Beth Potter | Great Britain (GBR)
|
2024 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Medals by NOC
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 |  Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 |  Australia | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| United States | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| 7 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | France | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 |  Austria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Bermuda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 |  Portugal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Sweden | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 |  Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (16 entries) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 48 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- General
- "Events". Triathlon.org. International Triathlon Union. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- "Triathlon". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Triathlon". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
- Specific
- ^ "Triathlon Equipment and History". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
- ^ "ITU Triathlon Facts & Figures". Triathlon.org. International Triathlon Union. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
- ^ "Triathlon, taekwondo added to Olympics". The Sunday Argus-Press. Associated Press. 4 September 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
- ^ Hobson, Wes; Clark Campbell and Michael F. Vickers (2001). "Chapter 18, Race Day: Olympic Distance". Swim, bike, run (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. p. 230. ISBN 0-7360-3288-6. OCLC 45583386. Retrieved July 2, 2009.
- ^ "Triathlon". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
- ^ "Golden surprise – Swiss McMahon upsets Aussie for triathlon gold". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNN. September 28, 2000. Archived from the original on May 2, 2001. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
- ^ "Simon Whitfield". The Official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ^ Michaelis, Vicki (August 25, 2004). "Australian-turned-Austrian Kate Allen wins triathlon with late surge". USA Today. Athens 2004 Olympics. Gannett Company. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
- ^ "Hamish Carter wins men's triathlon". Xinhua Online. Xinhua News Agency. August 26, 2004. Archived from the original on November 18, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
- ^ a b "Germany's Frodeno Wins Triathlon at the Wire". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. Associated Press. August 18, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2010.
- ^ Crutcher, Michael (August 18, 2008). "Emma Snowsill wins triathlon gold medal at Beijing Olympics". Herald Sun. The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ "Wilde eyeing greater tests - and complete Olympic medal set". 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Paris 2024 - TRIATHLON MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS". Olympics.com. Retrieved 31 July 2024.