TRIATHLON HISTORY

A triathlon is a discipline with 3 sequential endurance sports, it includes swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Its origin begins in the 1920s in France when athletes participated to the first tri-sport race. In 1974, the first mission bay competition was held in San Diego.

In 1978, during an award banquet in Hawai, John Collins, a Naval officer, issued a challenge to see who the toughest atheletes were : swimmers, cyclists or runners. He consolidated the 3 hardest endurance sports in the area : The Waikiki water swim (2,4 miles), the Oahu bike race (112 miles) and the Honolulu marathon (26,2 miles) into a single race.

The IRONMAN was born