A triathlon is a multi-sport endurance event that includes swimming, cycling, and running. The sport arose from an American obsession for long-distance running and fitness in the 1970s and was first featured as an Olympic sport at the Sydney 2000 Games.
Other than the Swimming and Running races, Cycling is the sport that is included in a Trithlon.
On September 25, 1974, a contest organized by local athletes Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan has termed a triathlon in San Diego, California. 46 athletes competed in the 460-meter (500-yard) swim, 9.6-kilometer (6-mile) run, and 8-kilometer bike race (5 miles). Several years later, the Hawaiian Ironman was founded by John Collins, a US Navy officer stationed in Hawaii who had finished 35th in the San Diego race. A 3.8-kilometer (2.4-mile) swim precedes a 180-kilometer (112-mile) bicycle ride and a 42-kilometer (26.2-mile) run in this triathlon (the equivalent of a marathon).
The original Hawaiian Ironman triathlon drew only 15 athletes, but the race swiftly acquired international notice and established itself as the sport's premier championship. The Hawaiian Ironman attracted more than 1,600 athletes from more than 50 countries around the turn of the twenty-first century.
