-
Triathlon was invented in the early 1970s by the San Diego Track club,
as an alternative workout to the rigors of track training. The club’s
first event consisted of a 10km run, an 8km cycle and a 500metre swim.
- In
1989, the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in Avignon,
France and the first official world championships were held.
- The
official distance for triathlon was set at a 1.5 km swim, a 40km cycle
and a 10km run taking from existing events in each discipline already
on the Olympic programme.
- This
standard distance, now called ‘Olympic Distance’ is used for the ITU
World Cup series and the Olympic Games.
- In
1994, at the IOC Congress in Paris, France, triathlon was awarded
full medal status on the Olympic programme and made it’s debut at
the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia. The women’s event took
place on the first day with the men competing on day two.
- ITU
now has over a hundred affiliated national federations around the
world.
- The president: ITU's current and founding president is Les
McDonald from Canada. Les was a competitive age-group triathlete as
well as a mountain climber, skier and semi-professional soccer player.
- The Executive Board of ITU has 4 table officers and 7 board
members
- Each Region of ITU is represented on its Executive Board
Facts and Figures Courtesy of
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Organizing Committee
|