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. 

The women’s triathlon in Sydney was the first of the 300 events decided at the 2000 Games. Australia's Michellie Jones, the twice world champion (1992 and 1993), finished a close second behind Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland. In Athens 2004 Loretta Harrop also won the silver medal after being passed with just 400m left in the run. The best-performed Australian male triathlete has been Greg Bennett who finished fourth in Athens.

In Beijing 2008, Emma Snowsill won Australia's first ever Olympic triathlon gold medal, taking out the women's event in true style after taking the lead in the run leg and never looking back. Teammate Emma Moffatt crossed the line in third place, winning bronze.

At the Olympics both men’s and women’s events are capped at 50 qualified competitors. After a mass for the swim leg, the race remains continous, with no stop between the three legs. Changeovers - better known as transitions – are vital to the race strategy. The time taken to get in and out of gear and on and off the bike can have a huge impact on the race. The leading men will take approximately 1 hour and 45 mins and the women 1 hour 50 minutes depending on the course.

• Moffatt leads rankings and Kahlefeldt fourth
• Moffatt pipped but takes series lead
• Snowsill back on top
• Atkinson grabs another silver
• Triathletes impress in Korea
• Snowsill returns to triathlon