Precise Information on Triathlon: Everything about the Sport for the Strongest

Triathlon is a relatively young kind of sport. Its first competitions took place in the 1970s. Now, this term is used to denote a separate sporting discipline consisting of swimming, bicycle racing, and running. This is the exact order to triathlon competitions. Thus, the given article will explain this sport in details for everyone to understand perfectly what it is.

Stages

Before an event begins, every participant is given his space in the free (transit) zone. It is a place where participants may leave their belonging, change their dresses, and prepare for various triathlon stages. One should note that triathlon athletes only are allowed to be in the transit zone. Among other things, it denotes that they cannot accept assistance in changing their equipment.

Swimming

The decision to make swimming the first of the triathlon stages is explained by safety measures because this discipline makes athletes have decent stamina and energy. At first triathlon events, swimming used to be a closing stage, which increased the risk of sinking and spasms caused by tiredness.

Here, athletes should overcome a particular distance. As a rule, a swimming distance has a triangular form that is denoted with the help of special signs. If an athlete leaves the route by crossing any of the limits, he or she will be appropriately penalized. For participants, the most important thing is to appear among leaders at the very beginning of a swim. That is why crawl that allows athletes to gain the highest swimming speed is so popular here. The fact is that it is a common thing when athletes who manage to get some advantage after the swimming stage manage to preserve their handicaps up to the end of a triathlon event.

Bicycle Racing

Once the swimming stage is over, athletes should go to the transit zone take off the swimming costume and replace it with a bicycle uniform. As soon as an athlete reaches their bicycle, they are allowed to leave the free zone.

Bicycle racing is the most crucial stage of the whole triathlon event. That is why it is of crucial significance for every participant to develop and apply one of two possible strategies. At this stage, it is possible either to save some more energy for a final running stage or to take it to the extreme limit and to win the bicycle racing stage. To tell the truth, it is impossible to tell for sure which strategy is more beneficial. Thus, every athlete is free to choose the variant that is the most suitable for him or her.

Throughout the whole distance, athletes meet specialized points where they can drink water and eat some food. At the same time, it is forbidden to take some food from third persons. If it happens, the corresponding athlete will be penalized.

Running

Once the bicycle race is finished, athletes should also appear in the transit area to change their uniform. After that, they will be allowed to proceed to the running stage. When it comes to this stage, all the athletes know a strategy they are going to follow. Thus, some athletes will try to preserve their leading positions, while others will do their best to perform better to regain these positions.

The running stage takes place on firm roads. In addition to that, the participants may not create any hindrances to one another while overcoming the distance. Depending on the severity of a foul, guilty athletes can be either removed from the event for a particular period of time or disqualified at all.

Distances

Triathlon distances can be interpreted quite differently depending on a place of the event and a governing body. At the same time, the following variants are said to be the most popular ones:

1. Classic or Ironman. It is one of the most difficult sporting competitions that is regularly held in the modern world. It is represented by 3.8-km swim, 180-km bicycle race, and 42-km marathon distance. In this case, athletes should overcome the whole distance for no more than 16 hours.
2. Half-Ironman. It is a bit easier to overcome because all the distances are twice shorter compared to those found in the Ironman. Thus, the participants should swim 1.9, ride 90, and run 21 kilometers. Some athletes use this distance as a kind of training for participating in the Ironman. In general, however, the given distance was developed to make the sport of triathlon more popular among numerous people. To tell the truth, it has managed to cope with the task.
3. Olympic. It is included in the program of the Summer Olympics. It is this distance that is used when it comes to organizing World Championships and other events held under the auspices of International Triathlon Federation. The distances are the following: 1.5 km swimming, 40 km bicycle racing, and 10 km running.
4. Sprint. It is a much shorter distance implying 0.75 km swimming, 20 km bicycle racing, and 5 km running. In this case, athletes do not have the possibility to distribute their powers according to a particular strategy. Thus, the best variant is to do their best from the very beginning of an event.
5. Supersprint. It is twice shorter in comparison with Sprint implying the distances of 0.375 km, 10 km, and 2.5 km. The last two distances are usually used for competitions of younger athletes.

Triathlon Variations

At present, triathlon is not an independent kind of sport only. In addition to that, it has become a basis for various sporting disciplines. Among them, specific attention should be given to the following variations:

1. Duathlon. The distance consists of three stages. Running is the first and the third ones, while bicycle racing stands for the second stage.
2. Aquathlon. It is the same as duathlon with the only difference represented by the fact that running is replaced by swimming.
3. Cross-Country. It includes the same disciplines as those found in traditional triathlon. The difference between the two is represented by bicycle racing. The fact is that this event should take place across the country with many hills in this variation.

The sporting disciplines listed above refer to summer sports. However, there is also winter triathlon where swimming is replaced by skiing. The order of competitions is running, bicycle racing, and skiing. There are two distances applied in winter triathlon: standard (5 km – 10 km – 10 km) and short (2.5 km – 5 km – 10 km).

Equipment

Triathlon is said to be a rather expensive kind of sport. The equipment should meet appropriate technical requirements, be comfortable, and not create any obstacles for athletes’ movements. Thus, triathlon equipment includes the following items:

• Wet suit. If a swimming distance is shorter than 1.5 kilometers, athletes are allowed to take one special trousers only. A wet suit is required in those cases when athletes have to overcome long distances or when the water temperature is lower than 25°C. As a rule, the governing body provides all the triathlon participants with suitable swimming caps that should bear athletes’ counting numbers.

• Bicycle and helmet. For classic distances, road bikes are the most suitable variants. Athletes are not allowed to participate in bicycle events without appropriate helmets. In addition to that, it is reasonable to have sunglasses, special shoes, and bicycle suit for more comfortable performance.
• Running shoes. Decent shoes significantly increase the probability of achieving successful results in a running event. That is why it is necessary to choose shoes with the greatest responsibility. It is a great mistake to start running in completely new shoes.