Mark Allen (triathlete)

Last updated
MarK Allen.jpg
Mark Allen
Medal record
Men's triathlon
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg  United States
ITU World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1989 Avignon Individual
Ironman World Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995 Men's race
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1993 Men's race
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1992 Men's race
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991 Men's race
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1990 Men's race
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1989 Men's race
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1987 Men's race
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1986 Men's race
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1983 Men's race

Mark Allen (born January 12, 1958 in Glendale, California) is an American triathlete and six-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion.

Contents

Education

He graduated from UC San Diego, where he was an All-American swimmer, with a degree in biology. [1]

Career

After competing and losing in the Ironman Triathlon Championships six times (often to Dave Scott), Allen emerged victorious in 1989, winning one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.

This was the first of six Ironman victories for Allen, the last coming in 1995 at age 37, making him the oldest winner of the event at that time. He has also excelled at the Olympic distance, winning the sport's inaugural World Championships in 1989 in Avignon, France, [2] by more than a minute. He was undefeated in 10 trips to the Nice International Championships, [3] and from 1988-1990 he had a winning streak of 21 races.

Over the course of his racing career, which ended in 1996, he maintained a 90% average in top-three finishes. He was named Triathlete of the Year six times by Triathlete magazine, and in 1997 Outside magazine dubbed him The World's Fittest Man. Allen was inducted into the Ironman Triathlon Hall of Fame in 1997. [1] He has also been inducted into the USAT Hall of Fame and the ITU Hall of Fame.

Allen has summarized his career in four characters: "1-6-21-infinity". [4] "1" is for his victory in the first official triathlon World Championship. "6" is for the six times he won the Ironman. 21 stands for his two season run of 21 straight victories, along the way defeating every one of the top 50 triathletes in the world. "Infinity" represents his acknowledgement by ESPN [5] as "The Greatest Endurance Athlete of All Time."

Allen owns and operates Mark Allen Coaching, [6] a global online triathlon coaching concern.

Results

YEARRACEPOSITIONSWIMBIKERUNRESULT
1995Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st51:504:46:352:42:098:20:34 [7]
1993Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st---------8:07:46 [8]
1992Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st---------8:09:08
1991Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st---------8:18:32 [9]
1990Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st---------8:28:17 [10]
1989Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA1st---------8:09:14 [11]
1988Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA5th---------8:43:22
1987Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA2nd---------8:45:19 [12]
1986Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA2nd---------8:36:04
1984Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA5th---------9:35:02
1983Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USA3rd---------9:21:06
1982Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii, USADNF------------

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triathlon</span> Swimming, cycling, and distance running race

A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς or treis (three) and ἆθλος or athlos (competition).

An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km). It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris McCormack (triathlete)</span> Australian triathlete

Chris McCormack, also known as Macca, is an Australian triathlete. McCormack is a two-time winner of the Ironman World Championship, winning the titles in 2007 and 2010. He is also the winner of the 1997 International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup Series, the 1997 Triathlon World Championships, and the 2012 Long Distance World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Lessing</span> British triathlete

Simon Christopher Lessing, MBE, is a British triathlete who won five International Triathlon Union (ITU) world titles. He also won races at 70.3, ITU long distance and Ironman-distance events. He set an Olympic-distance world record in 1996, and is noted for his 2004 Ironman Lake Placid win, where he set a course record of 8:23:12. In 2008 he retired from professional racing. Simon resides in Boulder, Colorado, United States, where he operates Boulder Coaching with Darren de Reuck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vassilis Krommidas</span>

Vassilis Krommidas is a triathlete and coach from Greece best known for competing at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Bennett (triathlete)</span>

Greg Bennett is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur. He is a retired professional Olympic athlete from Australia. He competed in triathlon since the age of 15 as a student at Newington College (1984–1989). Greg became a dual Australian and USA citizen in 2012.

Andrew Robert Potts is a triathlete from the United States. He competed in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion. Prior to triathlon, Potts was a swimmer where he won the bronze medal in the men's 400m individual medley at the 1995 Summer Universiade and earned a spot on the USA Swimming national team where he would place fourth at the 1996 Olympic Trials in the 400 IM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Hauschildt</span>

Melissa Hauschildt is an Australian professional triathlete and former middle-distance runner. She is a 3-time World Champion, winning Gold at the 2011 and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship as well as the 2013 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships. She also won Silver at the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. In April 2018, Hauschildt set a new Ironman brand record of 8:31:05, at the Ironman North American Championships, breaking the previous record of 8:33:56 set by Chrissie Wellington in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrissie Wellington</span> English triathlete

Christine Ann Wellington is an English former professional triathlete and four-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion. She holds, or held, all three world and championship records relating to ironman-distance triathlon races: firstly, the overall world record, secondly, the Ironman World Championship course record, and thirdly, the official world record for all Ironman-branded triathlon races over the full Ironman distance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Javier Gómez Noya</span> Spanish triathlete

Francisco Javier Gómez Noya is a Spanish triathlete. He is the winner of five ITU Triathlon World Championships, he holds three ITU Triathlon World Cup titles, and won the Silver medal for Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in men's triathlon. He has also won world titles for Ironman 70.3 and XTERRA Triathlon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Frodeno</span> German triathlete

Jan Frodeno is a German triathlete who is the gold medal winner in men's triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, 3-time winner of the Ironman World Championship in 2015, 2016, and 2019, and 2-time winner of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2015 and 2018. He had set the world record for the long distance in Roth, Germany in 2016 with 7:35:39 hours. In 2021, he broke his own world record during the Tributtle in Allgäu, Germany against Lionel Sanders, with a time of 07:27:53, setting a new world best for the long-distance triathlon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Alexander (triathlete)</span> Australian triathlete

Craig Alexander is an Australian triathlete who is the 2008, 2009 & 2011 Ironman Triathlon World Champion. He was the course record holder for the Ironman World Championship. He is also the winner of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2006 and 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Scott (triathlete)</span> American triathlete

Dave Scott is a U.S. triathlete and the first six-time Ironman Triathlon Hawaii Champion. A progenitor of the sport, in 1993, Scott was the first person ever inducted in the Ironman Hall of Fame. He is known by the nickname "The Man" for his intense training regimens and his unrelenting race performances that created a record number of wins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy O'Donnell (triathlete)</span>

Timothy O'Donnell is an American long-distance triathlete. He won the 2009 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, placed third at the 2015 Ironman World Championship, and was second at the 2019 Ironman World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Ferreira</span>

Amber Ferreira is an American triathlete, coach and endurance athlete. She is the 2010 and 2014 United States Snowshoe Champion and the 2012 World Snowshoe Championship runner-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Beth Ellis</span> American triathlete

Mary Beth Ellis is a retired American long-distance triathlete. She holds the record for the fastest iron-distance race by an American woman, set at Ironman Austria in 2011 with a time of 8:43:34. She is the 2015 ITU Long Distance Triathlon champion and has taken second place at both the 2008 and 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. She has been named USA Triathlon's Non-Olympic/ITU Female Athlete of the Year for both 2011 and 2012.

Siri Lindley is an American triathlon coach and former professional triathlete. She is the 2001 ITU Triathlon World Champion as well as the winner of the 2001 and 2002 ITU Triathlon World Cup series and 2001 ITU Aquathlon World Championships. She has coached a number of Olympic and Ironman athletes and champions, including Mirinda Carfrae, Leanda Cave, Sarah True, and Susan Williams. In 2014, she was selected to be a member of the inaugural International Triathlon Union (ITU) Hall of Fame class.

Britta Martin is a German born, New Zealand based professional triathlete and multiple winner of Ironman distance races all over the world.

Tom "Tug" Warren is an American triathlete, an Ironman champion, an inductee of both the Ironman Hall of Fame and the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, and a former sports bar owner from San Diego, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Gathercole</span> Australian coach (b. 1965, d. 2001)

Ben Gathercole is an Australian high-performance triathlon coach, sports manager and author.

References

  1. 1 2 Norcross, Don (March 6, 1997). "Mark Allen revels in his retirement". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  2. "Allen wins world triathlon". nst.com.my. August 8, 1989. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  3. Gibbs, Peter (May 28, 2010). "Good luck- don't forget the helmet". stuff.co.nz. New Zealand. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  4. "1-6-21-infinity is the greatest legacy in the history of triathlon. Can you guess what it stands for? If you can, you win a weekend of coaching with Mark Allen at your home". 1621infinity.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017.
  5. "Allen 'Greatest Endurance Athlete'". Slowtwitch.com.
  6. "markallencoaching". markallencoaching.com.
  7. Staton, Ron (October 8, 1995). "Allen claims his sixth Ironman Triathlon title". ap.com. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  8. "Triathlon; Huffing and Puffing, All the Way". nytimes.com. November 2, 1993. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  9. "TRIATHLON; International Mettle Shown in Ironman". nytimes.com. October 21, 1991. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  10. "Ironman winner Allen doesn't covet record". news.google.comaccess. October 8, 1990. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  11. "Ironman Triathlon win goes to Allen". ap.com. October 15, 1989. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  12. "Davis, Scott wins his sixth Ironman Triathlon crown". modestobee.com. October 11, 1987. Retrieved May 30, 2010.