Triathlon

Triathlon is a relatively new sport that consists of running, swimming, and cycling. Its origins date to the 1970s, when the first major triathlon, the Ironman Race, was held in Hawai’i. Triathlon is governed by World Triathlon (WT), which changed its name from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) in October 2020. The federation was created on 1 April 1989, in Avignon, France, and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 3 September 1994, at the IOC Session in Paris. As of January 2026, World Triathlon has 168 national member federations.

Before débuting at the Olympics, triathlon was contested twice at the World Games, first as an invitational sport in 1989, followed by official individual and team events for both genders in 1993.

The sport first appeared on the Olympic Programme at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, with two individual events – one for men and one for women. The Olympic triathletes race over what was already known as the Olympic Distance – 1,500 metres swim, 40 km cycling, and 10 km running. At Tokyo 2020, a mixed relay was added to the programme, with the super-sprint distances of 300 metres swim, 6.8 km cycling, and 2 km running per triathlete.

A decade after débuting at the Olympic Games, triathlon would also be included in the programme of the Youth Summer Olympics, starting at its inaugural Singapore 2010 edition, with boys, girls and mixed events.

Great Britain tops the Olympic medal table in the sport as of 2024. In fact, the top-3 male athletes in Olympic history are all British. Alex Yee and Alistair Brownlee are the only triathletes with two gold medals. Yee also leads the overall medal count, with a total of four medals, followed by Alistair Brownlee’s brother, Jonathan Brownlee, who has won a full set of medals.

On the women’s competition, there is no triathlete with more than one gold medal, but six Olympians have won two or more medals, notably Georgia Taylor-Brown. Just like her compatriot Jonathan Brownlee, she has also won one Olympic medal of each color.