Triathlon

Swim, cycle and run - triathlon is the true all-rounder that involves tremendous stamina and endurance in all conditions. The continental team competition in Singapore will add another exciting dimension.

Coming out of the American jogging craze in the early 1970s the first triathlon was conducted in September 1974 in San Diego, Southern California. The next quarter of a century saw the sport experience a rapid rise in global popularity and status, culminating in its becoming a fully-fledged Olympic sport, along with taekwondo, at Sydney 2000.

The distances for each leg of the modern triathlon in Olympic and world championships competition are: 1500m open-water swim, 40km cycle and 10km run. At the Youth Olympic Games in the individual races athletes will race half the Olympic distance (750m, 20km, 5km) and for the Team (Continent) event it will be a sprint of 250m, 7km and 1.7km.

Qualification

There will be 32 men and 32 women competing in triathlon at Singapore 2010 with a maximum of 1 male and 1 female per country. Of the 32 competitors, 23 will qualify from the five continental qualification events in 2009 and 2010. Then there are an additional eight Universality places and Singapore as host nation are allocated a place.

Australia will send two triathletes to compete at Singapore 2010.

Age Group

Athletes competing in this sport must be born between 1/1/92 and 31/12/93.

Competition Format

The triathlon competition format for individual competitions includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle ride (three-lap course), and a 5km run (two-lap course).

The 4 x mixed team relay competition includes a 250m swim in open water, a 7km cycle ride (one-lap course), and a 1.7km run (one-lap course). The competitors' official time includes the transition time between the individual legs of the race. The winner is the first athlete to complete the entire course.

Teams are constituted by Continent (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania). It can be several teams by continent, i.e. Europe 1, Europe 2. Each team is composed of two girls and two boys. Start order inside of team is: W1, M1, W2 and M2. Each athlete competes the three segments (Swim, Cycle, Run) before the relay is passed on to the next team member.

Teams are based on individual events results, i.e. Team 1 will be composed of the 1st W for that continent, 1st M, 2nd W and 2nd M, Team 2 = W3+M3+W4+M4,... The remaining athletes will go to "World Team".

Pontoon positions selection will be assigned randomly for both individual and team events at least 24 hours before the competition. The events are continuous with no breaks in competition. The first athlete/team to complete the course is declared the winner.

The distance of the legs in the events and the mixed team relay event after the key differences from the World Youth Games.

Venue - East Coast Park

Less than one-kilometre away from the National Sailing Centre on the south-eastern part of Singapore, the venue for triathlon is situated along the East Coast Park, Singapore’s largest and most popular public beach and park.

Australia and Olympic Triathlon

The women’s triathlon in Sydney was the first of the 300 events decided at the 2000 Games. Two-time world champion Michellie Jones finished a close second behind Brigitte McMahon of Switzerland. In Athens 2004 Loretta Harrop also won the silver medal after being passed with just 400m left in the run. The best-performed Australian male triathlete has been Greg Bennett who finished fourth in Athens.

In Beijing 2008, Emma Snowsill won Australia's first ever Olympic triathlon gold medal, taking out the women's event in true style after taking the lead in the run leg and never looking back. Teammate Emma Moffatt crossed the line in third place, winning bronze.