Triathlon at the Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Triathlon at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	ITU
Events	3 (men: 1; women: 1; mixed: 1)
Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Medalists

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.

Summary

Games Year Events Best Nation 27 2000 2  Switzerland 28 2004 2  New Zealand 29 2008 2  Australia 30 2012 2  Great Britain 31 2016 2  Great Britain 32 2020 3  Great Britain

History

The 2000 Summer Olympics saw the first appearance of the triathlon. 48 women and 52 men competed in separate triathlons. The distances used were the "international" or "standard" ones, with a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) swim, 40 km (25 mi) cycle, and a 10 km (6.2 mi) run. The 2004 triathlon was identical to the first in distance, but the 100-athlete quota was evened between 50 women and 50 men. The quota was further increased to 55 women and 55 men for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and remained the same for London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Results summary

Only one athlete, Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee, has ever won the Olympic triathlon twice (in 2012 and 2016), making him the most successful Olympic triathlete. Brother Jonathan Brownlee uniquely has won three medals in three consecutive Games, bronze in 2012, silver in 2016 and finally a gold in the inaugural team relay in 2020, thus making him the most decorated Olympic triathlete, and the only three time medalist.

Several other athletes have also won two medals, including a silver and bronze for New Zealander Bevan Docherty, and two Olympic champions, Canada's Simon Whitfield and Switzerland's Nicola Spirig, who both won a gold, followed by a silver medal. Katie Zaferes, Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown became the first triathletes to win two medals in the same Games in 2021 with the introduction of the mixed relay, the latter two athletes becoming the most successful triathlete in a single Games with a gold (relay) and a silver (individual) medal.

Great Britain is the most successful nation as of 2021, with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. New Zealand (2004) and Great Britain (2016) are the only nations to have completed a one-two finish in an individual event. No nation has yet won both women's and men's individual events at the same Games, or indeed in any Games - in fact, only two nations, Switzerland and Great Britain, have won medals in both men's and women's individual events as of 2021, and only Great Britain have won medals in all three Olympic events, managing the feat at the 2020 Games.

Canadian Simon Whitfield was the first gold medalist in the men's Olympic triathlon, in 2000. Kate Allen of Austria came from behind to win the 2004 women's Olympic triathlon event.

Men

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000 Sydney details	Simon Whitfield  Canada	Stephan Vuckovic  Germany	Jan Řehula  Czech Republic
2004 Athens details	Hamish Carter  New Zealand	Bevan Docherty  New Zealand	Sven Riederer  Switzerland
2008 Beijing details	Jan Frodeno  Germany	Simon Whitfield  Canada	Bevan Docherty  New Zealand
2012 London details	Alistair Brownlee  Great Britain	Javier Gómez Noya  Spain	Jonathan Brownlee  Great Britain
2016 Rio de Janeiro details	Alistair Brownlee  Great Britain	Jonathan Brownlee  Great Britain	Henri Schoeman  South Africa
2020 Tokyo details	Kristian Blummenfelt  Norway	Alex Yee  Great Britain	Hayden Wilde  New Zealand

Women

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2000 Sydney details	Brigitte McMahon  Switzerland	Michellie Jones  Australia	Magali Messmer  Switzerland
2004 Athens details	Kate Allen  Austria	Loretta Harrop  Australia	Susan Williams  United States
2008 Beijing details	Emma Snowsill  Australia	Vanessa Fernandes  Portugal	Emma Moffatt  Australia
2012 London details	Nicola Spirig  Switzerland	Lisa Nordén  Sweden	Erin Densham  Australia
2016 Rio de Janeiro details	Gwen Jorgensen  United States	Nicola Spirig Hug  Switzerland	Vicky Holland  Great Britain
2020 Tokyo details	Flora Duffy  Bermuda	Georgia Taylor-Brown  Great Britain	Katie Zaferes  United States

Mixed relay

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2020 Tokyo details	Great Britain (GBR) Jessica Learmonth Jonathan Brownlee Georgia Taylor-Brown Alex Yee	United States (USA) Katie Zaferes Kevin McDowell Taylor Knibb Morgan Pearson	France (FRA) Léonie Périault Dorian Coninx Cassandre Beaugrand Vincent Luis

Medal table

16 nations have split the thirty-nine medals awarded in the triathlon events, accurate as of the conclusion of the 2020 Olympic games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Great Britain (GBR)	3	3	2	8
2	Switzerland (SUI)	2	1	2	5
3	Australia (AUS)	1	2	2	5
4	New Zealand (NZL)	1	1	2	4
	United States (USA)	1	1	2	4
6	Canada (CAN)	1	1	0	2
	Germany (GER)	1	1	0	2
8	Austria (AUT)	1	0	0	1
	Bermuda (BER)	1	0	0	1
	Norway (NOR)	1	0	0	1
11	Portugal (POR)	0	1	0	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	0	1
14	Czech Republic (CZE)	0	0	1	1
	France (FRA)	0	0	1	1
	South Africa (RSA)	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 entries)		13	13	13	39

Qualification

Qualification spots in the triathlon are allotted to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) rather than to individual athletes.

There are five ways for NOCs to earn spots in the triathlon. NOCs can earn a maximum of three spots, though only eight nations may earn that many. Nations beyond that may earn only two spots.

The first five spots go to the winners of the five regional qualifying tournaments. Three more spots go to the top three triathletes of the most recent Triathlon World Championships, though any athlete that won a regional tournament is skipped in that determination. The next 39 places go to the NOCs of those athletes highest in the ITU ranking (again, skipping those athletes that have already qualified in the first two methods). A forty-eighth place is awarded to the host country if it has not already received a spot, or to the next highest ranked athlete if the host country has. Two places are awarded by the Tripartite Commission. In the end, further five places are distributed to the NOCs without any quota through the ITU Points List, with one place for each continent.

Competition

The Olympic triathlon is composed of two medal events, one for men and the other for women. Both use the same distances of 1.5 km, 40 km, and 10 km. Mass starts are used and drafting is allowed during the cycling phase.

Because of the variability of courses and uncontrollable conditions, official time based records are not kept for the triathlon. This rule applies to Olympic games as well.

Changes for Tokyo 2020

In the Olympic games, held in Tokyo, there was an inclusion of a mixed relay race. Teams of two men and two women competed on a course consisting of a 300m swim, 8 km cycle, and 2 km run before tagging a teammate.

Nations

The following nations have taken part in the triathlon competition.

Nation	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Years
Argentina (ARG)																								1	2		1	2	1	5
Australia (AUS)																								6	6	5	6	6	6	6
Austria (AUT)																								1	3	4	2	3	4	6
Azerbaijan (AZE)																												1	1	2
Barbados (BAR)																												1		1
Belgium (BEL)																								2	2	2	2	4	4	6
Bermuda (BER)																									1	1	2	1	1	5
Brazil (BRA)																								6	6	3	3	2	3	6
Canada (CAN)																								4	5	6	5	5	4	6
Chile (CHI)																								1		1	2	1	2	5
China (CHN)																								2	2	3	2	2	1	6
Colombia (COL)																								1	1		1			3
Costa Rica (CRC)																								1			1	1		3
Czech Republic (CZE)																								4	5	3	4	1	2	6
Denmark (DEN)																								2	1	1	2	1		5
Ecuador (ECU)																											1	1	1	3
Estonia (EST)																									1	1		1	1	4
France (FRA)																								6	4	5	6	5	5	6
Germany (GER)																								4	5	6	6	5	4	6
Great Britain (GBR)																								6	6	5	6	6	5	6
Greece (GRE)																								1	1	1				3
Hong Kong (HKG)																									1	2			1	3
Hungary (HUN)																								4	2	2	1	4	4	6
Ireland (IRL)																										1	2	2	2	4
Israel (ISR)																												1	2	2
Italy (ITA)																								3	3	4	3	4	5	6
Jamaica (JAM)																								1						1
Japan (JPN)																								6	5	5	5	4	4	6
Jordan (JOR)																												1		1
Kazakhstan (KAZ)																								2	3	1				3
Luxembourg (LUX)																								1	1	2			1	4
Mauritius (MRI)																											1	1		2
Mexico (MEX)																									2	2	2	5	4	5
Monaco (MON)																											1			1
Morocco (MAR)																													1	1
Netherlands (NED)																								6	2	2	2	2	4	6
Netherlands Antilles (AHO)																								1						1
New Zealand (NZL)																								4	4	2	6	4	4	6
Norway (NOR)																												1	4	2
Poland (POL)																										3	3	1		3
Portugal (POR)																									1	3	2	3	3	5
Russia (RUS)																								1	3	5	5	6	4	6
Romania (ROU)																													1	1
Slovakia (SVK)																										1	1	1		3
Slovenia (SLO)																											1	1		2
South Africa (RSA)																								2	2	2	3	4	4	6
South Korea (KOR)																											1			1
Spain (ESP)																								4	6	4	6	6	5	6
Sweden (SWE)																								1		1	1	1		4
Switzerland (SUI)																								6	5	6	4	4	4	6
Syria (SYR)																										1			1	2
Ukraine (UKR)																								2	2	3	2	1	1	6
United States (USA)																								6	6	6	5	6	5	6
Venezuela (VEN)																								1	1					2
Zimbabwe (ZIM)																								1		1	1			3
Nations																								34	34	37	39	41	38
Competitors																								100	100	110	110	110	110
Year	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20

See also

In Spanish: Triatlón en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños