The History of Triathlon

I thought this was a cool chronology of triathlon's history. There are two things that amaze me about this list. First, triathlon, in the modern sense, is a very young sport. About 35 years old. Second, that Julie Moss crawl to the finish on ABC's Wide World of Sports was a huge catalyst to the sport's popularity. Up to this point, the only mainstream endurance event was a marathon. When people saw this, they were asking what this race was all about.

Of course, for most people a triathlon is still the Ironman. They don't see it as a sport, they think it's just a race. But that's changing. Triathlon is still very young and has a long way to go. It's already surpassed other niche sports like squash and water polo -- and lacrosse better watch out!!!

History of Triathlon
1904 – An event in the Olympic Games was called triathlon, consisting of the long jump, shot put and 100-yard dash.

1921 – The Petit Perillon swim club in Marseilles, France, held an event called Course Des Trois Sports: The Race of Three Sports. The race consisted of a bicycle leg of about 7K, a run of 5K, and finished with a 200m out-and-back swim.

1974 – While advertising its new race, the San Diego Track Club Newsletter headline read, “Run, Cycle, Swim – Triathlon set for 25th,” using the word “triathlon” for the first time in the modern sense.

1977 – John Collins challenged those gathered at the Oahu Perimeter Relay Run awards ceremony to compete in the first Iron Man Triathlon, a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run.

1978 – Fifteen men started and 12 men finished the first Iron Man Triathlon, won by Gordon Haller in 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds.

1979 – A Sports Illustrated article by Barry McDermott features the Hawaii Iron Man Triathlon. Entries increased to 108 the following year.

1982 – The unforgettable crawl to the Ironman finish line by second-place finisher Julie Moss shown on ABC Wide World of Sports inspires many to take up triathlon.

Julie Moss 1982 Ironman


1982 – The United States Triathlon Association (USTA) and the American Triathlon Association, both founded earlier that year, decided to merge into one unified national governing body called the United States Triathlon Association.

1982 – The first triathlon offering prize money, the Torrey Pines Triathlon, is also the first United States Triathlon Series event, won by Dave Scott.

1983 – The word “triathlon” was added to the Ninth Edition of Webster’s New Collegiate dictionary.

1983 – A spin-off of the San Diego Track Club News called Triathlon, as well as Tri-Athlete founded by William Katovsky, were the first triathlon publications.

1983 – The United States Triathlon Association changes its name to Triathlon Federation/USA.

1984 – Timex Corporation creates the “Triathlon” watch, and then joins with Ironman organizers to use the name “Ironman.” It is now the top-selling watch in the world.

1985 – Triathlon sparks the cross-training fitness boom. Nike features Pro-triathlete Joann Ernst, in national ad campaigns, later made famous by Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.

1989 – The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded at its initial Congress in Avignon, France. Les McDonald was elected president.

1989 – The first triathlon world championship is held in Avignon, France, using the Olympic distance of 1.5k swim, 40k bike and a 10k run.

1991 – The IOC recognized the ITU as the sole international governing body for the sport of triathlon at its 97th session in Birmingham, England.

1993 – The Pan American Games approved triathlon for competition at the 1995 Pan Am Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

1994 – The first Goodwill Games triathlon was held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1994 – At the IOC’s 103rd session in Paris, France, triathlon was named to the Olympic program as a medal sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

1995 – The first Pan American Games triathlon is held in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

1996 – Triathlon Federation/USA changed its name to the present USA Triathlon.

1997 – The USOC officially recognizes USA Triathlon as an Olympic Sport Organization.

1998 – Justin Ward competes in his first triathlon. The sport will never be the same.

2000 – Triathlon debuts as an Olympic sport. The women’s event was the first medal awarded at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.