Sports - Olympics has added recently to its roster

One of the new sports Olympics have had the pleasure to participate in 2000 was Triathlons. This event is actually original to the Olympics in concept, having been termed by the Greeks to refer to any contest involving three separate sporting events. In its modern form, formalized since the mid 1970’s triathletes swim, bike, and then run.

In 2000, the triathlon debuted in the Sydney Olympics

The Triathlon varies in course length. The Olympic distance is actually one of the shorter contests, making is much more a speed race than in its tri counterparts. In the Olympics, the triathletes must swim ½ mile, bike 12.4 miles and then run 3.1 miles. On the other end of the spectrum, triathletes that enter the Ironman version swim for 2.4 miles, bike for 112 miles and  running for 26.2 miles. To get an idea of how long a race like this takes, most Triathlons have cut-off times of 17 hours.

While it is very exciting to see triathlons as an official Olympic sport; having it in the Olympics has not been without turmoil For one thing, the Olympics looks to the International group, the ITC, instead of the WTC which has been around longer. 

Of more importance to triathletes all around the world is the way the Olympics have allowed drafting within the sport. In the past, drafting has always been considered illegal and grounds for disqualification during past triathlons.

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