Triathlon

Hyde Park will welcome the world’s best triathletes for one of the most exciting and high-profile events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Key facts

Venue: Hyde Park
Dates: Saturday 4 and Tuesday 7 August
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 110 (55 men, 55 women)

The precise origins of Triathlon are unknown: some say that the sport began in France between the wars, others that it really developed in the United States during the late 1970s. Whatever the true history, Triathlon is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and the London 2012 competition in Hyde Park promises to draw enormous and enthusiastic crowds.

The basics

Triathlon races combine swimming, cycling and running, in that order. Events are conducted over a variety of distances: for the Olympic Games, the men’s and women’s Triathlons will consist of a 1,500m swim, a 40km bike ride and a 10km run. There are no heats: both the men’s and women’s events consist of a single race.

Olympic Triathlon, past and present

More than half a million spectators lined the Sydney streets to watch the first ever Olympic Triathlon at the 2000 Games. The six Triathlon events held since the sport’s Olympic debut have been won by athletes from six different countries: Canada and Switzerland in 2000; New Zealand and Austria in 2004; and Germany and Australia in 2008.

At London 2012, the Triathlon will begin and end in Hyde Park. The events will begin with a 1,500m swim in the Serpentine; continue with a seven-lap, 40km bike ride around a course that takes in Buckingham Palace and the Wellington Arch; and end with a four-lap, 10km run around the Serpentine to the finish. 

Triathlon
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