History

The first triathlon was held in 1974 on Mission Bay in San Diego. It was a run-bike-swim event directed by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan and sponsored by the San Diego Track Club. In most modern events, the three stages are held in the opposite order, primarily for safety reasons.

The first major triathlon event, the Ironman Triathlon, was organised in 1978 and held on the island of Oahu in Hawai'i. Later, the race was moved to Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Today, a number of Ironman events are held around the world, and the Kona race serves as the official world championship for all Ironman races.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in 1989. The ITU has never officially sanctioned the Ironman Triathlon and thus, there is no official world championship on the Iron-distance. This has been the subject of some controversy.

The sport made its debut on the Olympic program at the Sydney Games in 2000.

Since its founding in 1974, triathlon has grown significantly and now includes thousands of races with hundreds of thousands of competitors each year.