Triathlon

History

Despite many people believing that triathlon was invented in Hawaii (where the iron man event was actually invented), the sport actually came about in 1974 in the Californian city of San Diego, at an athletics club. The club had the custom of giving their athletes a spreadsheet with training schedules for them to use during their holidays. The schedule had general exercises on it, such as swimming and cycling, aimed at the keeping the athletes in shape, without them having to do any specific athletics training.

When the athletes came back from their holidays, the instructors held tests in the groups to see who in fact, had followed the training schedule. These tests consisted in a combination of a 500 metres swim, followed by 12 kilometres of cycling and finally, a 5 kilometre run. The athletes loved the challenge and requested that the test be used the following year, in a more organised manner. They also requested that the San Diego life guards - known for their fitness - took part. The competition brought together 55 competitors and the 'official' athletes fared better.

In 1976, the life guards proposed some changes: increase the swim to around 700 metres in the sea, 15 kilometres of cycling on the beach's seafront and surroundings, as well as a 4.5 kilometre cross country run. Ninety-five people enrolled for this competition and it was held three times in this format. From then on, triathlon has been through several changes, gaining popularity and winning followers over throughout the world, until its Olympic debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Today, Olympic triathlon consists of a 1,500 metre swim, 40 kilometre of cycling and a 10 kilometre run. There is a variant of the sport, with longer distances and which has also turned into a traditional event. It is the Iron Man event, held in Hawaii, with a 3.8km swim, 180km of cycling and a 42km run.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU), the sport's governing body, was founded in 1989 in the French town of Avignon. In Brazil, the sport started to be practiced in 1981 and the first official competition was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1983. The Brazilian Triathlon Confederation (CBTri) was founded in 1991.

Curiosities

Slipstream allowed
In order to be accepted as an Olympic sport, triathlon had to undergo several changes. One of the main changes was in its rules, which started to allow slipstream to be used in cycling - meaning that a cyclist can follow an opponent right behind, conserving his/her energy.

See also

Confederação Brasileira de Triathlon (CBTri)
Site: www.cbtri.org.br
E-mail: cbtri@cbtri.org.br
União Internacional de Triathlon: www.triathlon.org