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 is an exciting sport that combines swimming, cycling, and running. It first became an Olympic sport at the Sydney Games in 2000. Back then, there were two events: one for men and one for women. Later, at the 2020 Summer Olympics (which happened in 2021), a new event was added: the mixed team relay. This means teams of both men and women compete together! The sport is managed by an organization called World Triathlon.

Triathlon at the Olympics: A Quick Look

Triathlon has been a part of the Summer Olympics since 2000. Here's a quick summary of how many events have been held and which country has performed best each time:

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

How Triathlon Started at the Olympics

Triathlon made its first appearance at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In that first event, 48 women and 52 men competed. They raced in separate events, meaning men and women did not compete together.

The distances for the triathlon were set as:

• A 1.5 kilometer (about 0.93 miles) swim
• A 40 kilometer (about 25 miles) bike ride
• A 10 kilometer (about 6.2 miles) run

These distances are known as the "standard" or "international" distances. For the 2004 Olympics, the distances stayed the same. The number of athletes was also made more even, with 50 women and 50 men competing. For later Games, like Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016, the number of athletes increased to 55 women and 55 men.

Top Athletes and Countries

Some athletes have become very famous in Olympic triathlon. Alistair Brownlee from Great Britain is the only person to win two Olympic triathlon gold medals. He won in 2012 and 2016. His brother, Jonathan Brownlee, has won three medals in total. He earned a bronze in 2012, a silver in 2016, and a gold in the mixed team relay in 2020. This makes him the most decorated Olympic triathlete.

Other athletes, like Simon Whitfield (Canada) and Nicola Spirig (Switzerland), have also won two medals. They each won a gold and a silver medal. In 2021, with the new mixed relay event, Katie Zaferes, Alex Yee, and Georgia Taylor-Brown became the first triathletes to win two medals in the same Olympics. Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown won a gold in the relay and a silver in their individual races.

Great Britain has been the most successful country in Olympic triathlon as of 2021. They have won three gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. New Zealand (in 2004) and Great Britain (in 2016) are the only countries to have won both gold and silver in the same individual event.

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's Medal Winners

Here are the male athletes who have won medals in triathlon at the Olympics:

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's Medal Winners

Here are the female athletes who have won medals in triathlon at the Olympics:

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 Medal Winners

The mixed relay event was new for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Here are the teams that won medals:

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

Medals by Country

As of the 2020 Olympic Games, 16 different countries have won medals in triathlon. Here's a table showing how many gold, silver, and bronze medals each country has won:

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

How Athletes Qualify

Countries, not individual athletes, earn spots in the Olympic triathlon. Each country can earn a maximum of three spots for their athletes. However, only eight nations can have three spots. Other nations can only earn two spots.

Countries can qualify in a few ways:

• Winning regional qualifying tournaments.
• Having athletes place high in the Triathlon World Championships.
• Having athletes with high rankings in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) list.
• The host country (like Japan for the 2020 Games) gets a spot if they haven't already qualified.
• A special committee also awards a few spots.

How the Races Work

The Olympic triathlon has two main medal events: one for men and one for women. Both use the same distances:

• 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) for swimming
• 40 kilometers (25 miles) for cycling
• 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) for running

All athletes start at the same time, which is called a "mass start." During the cycling part, athletes are allowed to "draft." This means they can ride closely behind another cyclist to save energy, like being pulled along.

Because each race course is different and weather conditions can change, official time records are not kept for Olympic triathlons.

New Mixed Relay Race

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a new mixed relay race was added. In this event, teams are made up of two men and two women. Each team member completes a shorter triathlon course before tagging their teammate. The distances for the mixed relay are:

• 300 meters (about 0.19 miles) swim
• 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) cycle
• 2 kilometers (about 1.2 miles) run

Countries That Have Competed

Many countries have sent athletes to compete in triathlon at the Summer Olympics. Here's a list of the nations that have taken part:

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 Ol%C3%ADmpicos para niños