Triathlon Sport

Conventionally, triathlon is a special sport: each athlete is competing against the course and the clock for the best time. As such, athletes are not allowed to receive assistance from anyone else inside or outside the race, with the exception of race-sanctioned aid volunteers who distribute food and water on the course. This also means that team tactics, such as drafting, a cycling tactic in which several riders cluster closely to reduce the air resistance of the group, are not allowed.

It is worth mentioning moment that this has begun to revolutionize with the introduction of triathlon into the Olympics. Many Olympic-distance races, including the Olympics themselves and ITU World Cup events, now allow drafting during the cycling stage. This change has sparked extensive debate among the triathlon community, with supporters feeling that it brings triathlon rules closer in line with international cycling rules and practices, and opponents feeling that drafting has the potential to negate gains achieved by an individual in the swim, and gains an individual would have the potential to achieve during the cycling leg. Drafting has become the standard format for professional-level ITU events and the Olympics. However, the majority of amateur events retain the non-drafting format.

Moreover, it would be desirable to add that triathlons are timed in five sections: 1) from the start of the swim to the beginning of the first transition (swim time); 2) from the beginning of the first transition to the end of the first transition (T1 time); 3) from the start of the cycling to the end of the cycling leg (cycling time); 4) from the beginning of the second transition to the end of the second transition (T2 time); 5) and finally from the start of the run to the end of the run, at which time the triathlon is completed. Results are usually posted on official websites and will show for each triathlete his/her swim time; cycle time (with transitions included); run time; and total time. Some races also post transition times separately.

If mentioning any additional rules of triathlon sport, thay differ from race to race and generally involve descriptions of allowable equipment (such as wetsuits, which are allowed in the swimming stage of some races - usually when the water temperature is below 78 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 °C), and prohibitions against interference between athletes.

One significant rule involving the cycle leg is that the competitor must be wearing their bike helmet before the competitor mounts the bike and must remain on until the competitor has dismounted; the competitor may remove their helmet at any time as long as they are not on the bicycle (i.e. while repairing a mechanical problem). Failure to comply with this rule will result in disqualification. Moreover, while on the bike course, a competitor is required to ride their bicycle at all times. Should a competitor's bike malfunction they can proceed with the race as long as they are doing so with their bicycle in tow.

A triathlon is an endurance sports event that involves swimming, cycling and running over different distances. So as a rule, proficiency in swimming, cycling, or running alone is not sufficient to guarantee a triathlon athlete a competitive time; trained triathlon athletes have learned to race each stage in a way that preserves their energy and endurance for subsequent stages. In most modern triathlons, these events are placed back-to-back in immediate sequence and a competitor's official time includes the time required to "transition" between the individual legs of the race, together with any time necessary for changing clothes and shoes.

On the word of famous triathlon historian and author Scott Tinley the origin of triathlon is anecdotally attributed to a race in France during the 1920-1930s that was called "Les trois sports," "La Course des Débrouillards" and "La course des Touche à Tout." Nowadays, this race is held every year in France near Joinville le Pont, in Meulan and Poissy. In 1920 the French newspaper "L´Auto" reported on a competition called "Les Trois Sports" with a 3 km run, 12 km bike and a crossing of the channel Marne. Those three parts were done without any break. There are also articles in French newspapers about a race in Marseille in 1927. There is a 1934 article about "Les Trois Sports" (the three sports) in the city of La Rochelle, a race with:
a channel crossing (c. 200 m),
a bike competition (10 km) around the harbor of La Rochelle and the parc Laleu,
and a run (1200 m) in the stadium André-Barbeau.

Initial triathlons were held as off-beat training exercises for runners. The first known swim/bike/run triathlons were held at San Diego’s Mission Bay in 1974. Organized by members of the San Diego Track Club, the events were held on summer evenings and were intended as no more than light-hearted breaks in the normal grind of training for marathons and 10Ks. This occurrence is well-documented and was not based on the French events. Amongst them were runners, swimmers and cyclists and before long training sessions turned into informal races. Directed and conceived by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan, the first Mission Bay Triathlon was held on September 25, 1974 and welcomed 46 athletes. This date is celebrated as the day modern triathlon began. The first modern long-distance triathlon event 2.4-mile (3.86-kilometer) swim, 112 mi (180.2 km) bike ride, and a 26.2 mi (42.2 km) run) was the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon, which was conceived during the awards ceremony for the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay (a running race for 5-person teams).

Nowadays, many triathlon events over a range of distances are held around the world. The standard "Olympic Distance" of 1.5/40/10k was created by long time triathlon race director, Jim Curl in the mid-80's after he and partner Carl Thomas successfully produced the U.S. Triathlon Series between 1982 and 1997. USTS, as it was known, did more to bring accessible triathlons to the masses than any other group. The Hawaii Ironman Triathlon now serves as the Ironman world championship, but the entity that owns the race, the World Triathlon Corporation, hosts other triathlons around the world that are also called Ironmans. Long-distance multi-sport events organized by groups other than the World Triathlon Corporation may not officially be called "Ironman" or "Iron" races. Such triathlons may be described as "Full distance" or "Half distance", but the "Ironman" and "Iron" labels are the official property of the World Triathlon Corporation.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was established in 1989 as the international governing body of the sport, with the chief goal being to put triathlon on the Olympic program. The ITU has never officially sanctioned the Ironman Triathlon. Some believe that the Hawaii Ironman should be recognized as the official world championship for the sport as a whole, and as such should be sanctioned by the ITU. For its part, however, the ITU has expressed little interest in supporting longer distance triathlons, choosing to retain its focus instead on the shorter races geared toward the Olympics.

The sport unveiled and made a large success on the Olympic program at the Sydney Games in 2000 over the Olympic Distance (1500 m swim - 40 km bike - 10 km run). Since its founding, triathlon has grown significantly and now includes thousands of races with hundreds of thousands of competitors worldwide each year. The history of the sport is written down in Scott Tinley's book, Triathlon: A Personal History (Velo Press, 2002).