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Triathlon, the Olympics, and the Evolution

The sport of triathlon started some place, and many could argue that it began in 1973 with Don Shanahan in San Diego. Others might insist that it would have to be in print so they might lean to the September, 1974 San Diego Track Club newsletter that declared "Triathlon set for the 25th". Ironman fanatics might claim that the sport began with John Collins and that first Ironman event on Oahu on February 18, 1978. Regardless of the point of origin, triathlon has grown and expanded to include hundreds of races and thousands of participants all around the world. Clearly there have been some milestones and one of the major ones was triathlon's inclusion into the Olympic Games.

For most sports, the Olympics represent the very apex of competition. For triathlon, the Olympic acceptance was a huge validation, but more Americans still associate triathlon with the Ironman World Championships in Kona. The Hawaiian Ironman presence on NBC, plus America's dedication to TV, has clearly made Kona the definition of triathlon for most people. Countless short course triathletes who give a Monday morning mention to a coworker that they did a triathlon yesterday, all too often get the shocked response, "And you can walk today?". Wake up America: not all triathlons are of the Ironman distance.

When it came time to try and get triathlon into the Olympics, different camps formed. Various groups were pitching different distance races, with conflicting rules, and opposing formats. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose the format proposed by the International Triathlon Union (ITU). The event distance was set at a 1.5K swim, a 40K bike ride and a 10K run. There were many complaints with the selection, but all of them paled to the one major gripe: the Olympic triathlon would allow drafting on the bike portion of the race. Heated discussions raged about the issue, and they continue today. The importance of good swimming and running skills are heightened in this format, and bike skills are less than essential. Even national Olympic recruiters test youths only in the swim and run because they know that natural cycling talent is not required for World Cup and Olympic success. Some cynics even refer to the draft legal race format as a "wet run".

All the debates aside, the sport of triathlon made it into the Olympics. That status increases public awareness, sponsorship dollars, participation, and validates our sport. It is nothing but good for the triathlon. The way our debut was placed in Sydney made the whole unveiling even better: the ladies race was the first event on the schedule; it highlighted Sydney's best features; there were some unexpected winners. It was all grand. Triathlon looked to be riding high on a new wave.

That wave crashed on a rocky shore in early December of 2001, when it looked as if triathlon's Olympic status was in jeopardy of being revoked. The head of the ITU, Les McDonald, had been under heavy fire from all sides for many months. He was battling claims of tainting voting by locking representatives out of key sessions, of corruption, and of public statements that are less than pc (such as referring to another officer "as useful as tits on a bull"). This kind of activity had won him few friends in the triathlon community, and hinted at a slow career demise. Now, the pressure on Mr. McDonald can only increase since the IOC debacle has emerged.

The triathlon community held is collective breath during the week of December 10, 2001 as the IOC met at its head quarters of Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss the matter. On December 12, according to the Associated Press, IOC President Jacques Rogge "dispelled fears that the triathlon might be dropped from the Olympics, saying he was confident there would be peace in the sport's governing body. "I am glad to report that the problems we had acknowledged ... are on the way to being solved."

This does not mean that triathlon is out of the woods. The ITU has many critics and it has done a horrendous job of satisfying or quieting them. Nor should the triathlon community settle into complacency with its Olympic status. The sport of running is represented with everything from the 100 meter dash to the marathon. It is not unthinkable that triathlon could have a non drafting, Olympic ultra distance race of Ironman length, or a sprint or Formula 1 type event. The future is always uncertain but it offers many possibilities.

Other articles in this series:
   » Triathlon Keeps Inching Towards Mainstream
   » Slowtwitch's Kona Survey
   » Olympics in Athens and how athletes try and make the grade
   » Another course change at the IM World Championships
   » Put your mind to work in your favor before and during the race with
     visualizations

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