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, 'three', and ἆθλος, 'competition'.
A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating. In the Olympic Games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field, each consisting of a set number of stages (legs), each leg run by different members of a team. The runner finishing one leg is usually required to pass the next runner a stick-like object known as a "baton" while both are running in a marked exchange zone. In most relays, team members cover equal distances: Olympic events for both men and women are the 400-metre and 1,600-metre relays. Some non-Olympic relays are held at distances of 800 m, 3,200 m, and 6,000 m. In the less frequently run medley relays, however, the athletes cover different distances in a prescribed order—as in a sprint medley of 200, 200, 400, 800 metres or a distance medley of 1,200, 400, 800, 1,600 metres.
World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. It is recognised as the international federation for the sport of triathlon and its derivatives by the International Olympic Committee, and it organises Olympic triathlon events on behalf of the IOC.
Triathlon had its Summer Olympics debut at the 2000 Games, in Sydney, when men's and women's individual events were first held, and has been contested since then. In 2021, at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics a mixed team relay event was held for the first time. The sport, and its Olympic events, are governed by the International Triathlon Union, known since 2019 as World Triathlon.
Triathlon at the 2010 Asian Games was held in Guangzhou, China from November 13 to 14, 2010. Both men and women competed on the Guangzhou Triathlon Venue.
The women's triathlon was one of the triathlon events at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. It took place on 4 August 2012, featuring 55 women from 31 countries. It was the fourth appearance of an Olympic women's triathlon event since the first at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The race was around Hyde Park, a 1.42 km2 park in central London. The race was held over the "international distance" and consisted of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) swimming, 43 kilometres (27 mi) road cycling, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) road running.
The triathlon competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 18 to 20 August 2016 at Fort Copacabana. Fifty-five athletes competed in each of the men's and women's events.
Richard Sam Bera is a former Indonesian swimmer, who specialized in sprint and middle-distance freestyle events. He is a three-time Olympian, a bronze medalist at the Asian Games (1990), and a twenty-three times SEA Games gold-medalist since his debut in 1987. He is regarded as Indonesia's most successful swimmer in the sporting history. Up until 2015, Bera held several Indonesian and Southeast Asian Games records in sprint freestyle events from the Southeast Asian Games.
The triathlon competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured fifty-five athletes competing in each of the men's and women's events. The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also added the new mixed team relay event.
The World Triathlon Championship Series is an annual series of triathlon events organised by World Triathlon. The series is used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. Previously, the ITU world champion between 1989 and 2008 had been decided in a single annual championship race.
The Triathlon competitions at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in Glasgow, were held in Strathclyde Country Park. The men's and women's individual events were held on Thursday 24 July and women's triathlon was the first medal event of the Games. Mixed team relay was held on Saturday 26 July for the first time ever in major multi-sport Games. Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC member, commented: "We are delighted the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee has embraced the Triathlon Mixed Relay. Triathlon is on currently on a high in the United Kingdom, and the Mixed Relay will offer an extra opportunity for the people of Glasgow to watch another thrilling and unpredictable event live on their city streets."
Triathlon at the 2014 Asian Games was held at the Songdo Central Park, Incheon, South Korea from September 25 to 26, 2014. Both men and women competed in individual events, plus a mixed-gendered relay event.
Zhang Yufei is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. Considered one of the most promising swimming in the international scene, she produced a tally of forty-three medals in her swimming career, spanning the Youth Olympics, Asian Games, World Championships and the Summer Olympics. She currently holds the record for most Olympic medals for a Chinese athlete. In 2023, she was named as the most valuable player in the women's division, in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Macau, China participated at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, from 18 August to 2 September 2018. The territory have prepared more than 120 athletes to compete in 16 event at the Games. Macau announced its team of 110 athletes and 56 officials, medical staff, team leaders, coaches, that will take part in 16 competitions: swimming, diving, artistic swimming, athletics, badminton, bowling, boxing, canoeing, cycling, fencing, golf, judo, karate, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, and wushu.
The 2018 ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championship was the 10th edition of the mixed relay world championships and the 6th to be held in Hamburg, Germany. The race was hosted on 15 July 2018 to coincide with the 2018 ITU World Triathlon Series Hamburg race, and featured 40 men and 40 women representing 20 countries. The race was around the Binnenalster, an artificial lake in central Hamburg. The race followed the standard mixed relay format, where each athlete would swim 300m, cycle 7 km and run 1.7 km before tagging their next teammate to do the same, with the specified gender order of female—male—female—male.
Triathlon at the 2017 Central American Games was held at the San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua from 16 December to 17 December. Both men and women competed in individual events, plus a mixed-gendered relay event.
The mixed relay triathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place at the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on 31 July 2021.
Triathlon was one of the sports contested at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, England. This was the fifth staging of triathlon at the Commonwealth Games since the sport's debut in 2002, and the second staging within England specifically.
Triathlon at the 2022 Asian Games was held at the Chun'an Jieshou Sports Centre Triathlon Course, Hangzhou, China, from 29 September to 2 October 2023. Both men and women competed in individual events, plus a mixed-gendered relay event.
The triathlon competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 31 July to 5 August at Pont Alexandre III, featuring a total of 110 athletes who were to compete in each of the men's and women's events. After a successful debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the mixed relay competition will remain in the triathlon program for the second time.
