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.
Vicky Holland is a British former triathlete who was part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team. Holland was the 2018 World Triathlon champion, the fourth British woman to win the title. She was also the first female triathlete to win an Olympic medal for Great Britain, a bronze in 2016, holding off housemate, compatriot and fellow world champion Non Stanford.
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.
Triathlon at the 2018 Asian Games was held at the JSC Lake Jakabaring, Palembang, Indonesia, from 31 August to 2 September. Both men and women competed in individual events, plus a mixed-gendered relay event.
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.
Supertri is a league of nonstandard triathlon-based races held in the traditional off-season of the sport. Every race involves a swim, bike and run element but all contain additional rules in an aim to test athletic ability, increase viewer excitement and increase the popularity of triathlon more globally.
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.
Alexander Amos Yee is a British professional triathlete and distance runner. He is the 2024 World and Olympic champion in standard or 'Olympic' distance triathlon, the second man to win both titles in a single year.
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.
The 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series was the 13th season of the World Triathlon Championship Series, the top level international series for triathlon, since its establishment in 2009. The season consisted of four pairs of triathlon races for both a men's and women's competition, beginning on May 15 in Yokohama, and concluding on August 21 with the grand final in Edmonton. The series calendar also included the 2020 Summer Olympics individual races on July 26 and 27 and mixed relay event on July 31.
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.
The triathlon competitions at the 2023 European Games, in Kraków, were held on 27 and 28 June, and 1 July, 2023. A total of 120 athletes, 60 men and 60 women, competed. This was the second appearance of triathlon in the European Games program after 2015, and the first appearance of the mixed medley relay.
