Any Doper triatheletes out there?

[etv78]

My GQ is: does a triathalon need to be a certain length, or does it merely need to have the 3 disciplines?

[brianmelendez]

Any event that involves three disciplines can be called a triathlon. There could be, for example, an academic triathlon consisting of geography, history, and spelling. But a triathlon usually means an athletic event, and the three disciplines are usually swimming, cycling, and running, in that order.

The modern athletic triathlon is a relatively new sport, having been “invented” by the San Diego Track Club in the 1970s:

HISTORY

The combination of 3 distinct events into a race called a triathlon is a relatively new event in world sports.

Early triathlons were held as offbeat training exercises for runners. In 1974 the San Diego Track Club founded the first official triathlon event, held at Mission Bay. The sport was developed the year before to add some alternative endurance activities to the traditional track workouts.

One athlete who raced at the first Mission Bay Triathlon, John Collins, was very influential in the further development of the sport. Collins, a U.S. Naval Officer, took the triathlon concept to Hawaii and used it several years later in 1978 to combine three of Oahu’s endurance events – the Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the Around-Oahu Bike Ride and the Honolulu Marathon – into one race: the Ironman.

Only 12 men competed in 1978. In the 1980’s the sport blossomed and became an official event. when the official standardization of the distances in triathlon took place. Borrowing from the “classic” distances of each of triathlon’s “root” Olympic sports, the original U.S. Triathlon Series established that the swim would be 1,500 meters long, the cycling road race 40 kilometers, and the run 10 kilometers (taken from track’s 10,000 meter event). This way triathletes have been able to make comparison between their times and those of elite swimmers, cyclists and track athletes.

In 1989, after many attempts, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was established in Avignon, France. At the 97th session of the IOC, the ITU was given status as the official world governing body of the sport, and one of the federation’s first acts was to accept what is now the Olympic format. Since that time, 140 countries have affiliated under the umbrella of the ITU.

The primary reason for the establishment of the ITU was to gain Olympic program status. During early meetings with representatives of the IOC, ITU officials felt that the IOC was not interested in an event that was much longer than the marathon, mainly because of logistical and televising difficulties.

In 1991, the IOC recognized the ITU as the sole governing body for the sport of triathlon at its 97th session in Birmingham, England. In 1993 the Pan American Games approved triathlon for competition at the 1995 Pan Am Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The first Goodwill Games Triathlon was held in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 23, 1994. Then in October of 1994, triathlon was named to the Olympic program as a medal sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Six years and 12 days after that inclusion, the first gold medal will be awarded in Sydney.

See also “TRIATHLON: The Early History of the Sport.”

The Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile cycling race, and a 26-mile marathon run. (“Ironman Triathlon” is a trademark registered by the World Triathlon Corporation, so not just any race–even at “Ironman” distances–can call itself an “Ironman.” The Ironman distances are therefore sometimes called a “long-distance” triathlon instead of an “Ironman.”)

When the triathlon became an Olympic sport, the Olympic distances were taken from existing Olympic events: the 1500m swim, 40km road cycling race, and 10km run.

Other triathlons are held at “sprint” or “international” distances:

A majority of the officially sanctioned races in America are classified as the sprint category. Unlike the previous two designations [“Ironman” or “long-distance,” and “Olympic”], there is not a specific distance associated with the three disciplines in sprints. Instead, there is a range of distances, generally averaging half the Olympic distance.

The Double Iron is exactly as it sounds – twice the length of the Ironman. There is even a Triple Ironman. A duathon is a race which replaces the swim leg with another run leg.

Finally, there are several other kinds of tri distances that fall between these designations. These non-standard races are termed generally as international distances.

The main “sprint” triathlons sanctioned by USA Triathlon, “the national governing body for the multi-sports of triathlon and duathlon in the United States,” consist of a 5-mile swim, a 12-to-15-mile cycling race, and a 3.1-mile run.

[Rusalka]

you mean a .5 mile swim, don’t you?

[brianmelendez]

*Originally posted by Rusalka *
**you mean a .5 mile swim, don’t you? **

Oops! :smack: Yes, the swimming in a “sprint” triathlon is usually a 0.5-mile swim, not a 5-mile swim. Thanks for the catch.

[barbitu8]

Just for the record, Charleston has a series of 4 sprint triathlons in the summer, and the swim is only .3 of a mile. (The biking is 12 miles and the run is the 5K.)

[etv78]

barbitu8 gave the answer i wanted. Thanx!