Coming out of the American jogging craze in the early 1970s the first triathlon was conducted in September 1974 in San Diego, Southern California.
The next quarter of a century saw the sport experience a rapid rise in
global popularity and status, culminating in its becoming a
fully-fledged Olympic sport, along with taekwondo, at Sydney 2000.
The year 1989 saw the creation of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) and the staging of the first world championships in France.
The ITU currently has almost 100 affiliated national federations. Of
the sixteen world championships held from 1989 until 2005, Australians
have won six men’s titles and ten women’s titles. Australian triathlon
championships under the “Olympic distance” were first held in 1986.
There had been an athletics-based triathlon in the Olympics previously. In St Louis 1904, Max Emmerich of the United States won an event composed of long jump, shot put and a 100 yards sprint.
The distances for the
each leg of the modern triathlon in Olympic and world championships
competition are: 1500m open-water swim, 40km cycle and 10,000m run.
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