TRIATHLON HISTORY
While similar events known as "Les trois sports" were held in France in the 1920s, the birth of the modern triathlon is considered to have been in 1974 in Mission Bay, San Diego. These early triathlons were off-beat training exercises for runners, especially those training for marathons and the 10000 metres.Three years later, the first Ironman Triathlon took place in Hawaii. This was the first modern long-distance triathlon event. It was made up of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112 mile cycle ride, and a 26.2 mile run. The world's first Ironman, Gordon Haller, completed the triathlon in 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 58 seconds.
Triathlon became an internationally-recognised official event in 1989 when the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in Avignon, France. The main task of the ITU was to have triathlon accepted by the International Olympic Committee. This required creating a world triathlon championship which was held a few months later in Avignon. The inaugural world championship was won by Mark Allen of the United States and Erin Baker of New Zealand.
The distances for triathlon were established at a 0.932 mile swim, a 24.85 mile cycle run and a 6.213 miles run. These distances were taken from existing events in the Olympics. The sport of triathlon was added as an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Switzerland's Brigitte McMahon won the women's race and Canada's Simon Whitfield won the men's race