LONDON 2012 SPORTS GUIDE: TRIATHLON

By Jack Travers, Sportsbeat

TRIATHLON is one of the fastest growing Olympic sports and anyone who has taken part in one will understand that it takes an athlete and a half to become part of the sport's elite. 

WINNING FEELING: Alistair Brownlee enjoyed a breakthrough 2009 - securing the triathlon world title after a series of impressive wins (onEdition)

Having only been formalised as a sport in 1974 and only welcomed into the Olympic family in Sydney in 2000, triathlon is playing catch-up with many other sports where tradition and heritage hold sway. But it is doing an excellent job and is rapidly becoming one of the gems of the games. 

500,000 fans lined the Sydney streets for the first-ever Olympic triathlon and with Hyde Park the setting for the 2012 edition, an early alarm will be needed to get a good viewing spot. 

Triathlons are amazingly competitive and tight contests at elite level. Sprint finishes are commonplace and with a couple of Brownlee brothers likely to be among those competing for a podium spot, Great Britain's insatiable thirst for medals might just be quenched.

Key facts

When? Women: 4 August, Men: 7 August  

Where? Hyde Park

How much? £20 - £60 (lining the route on the streets is free)

Disciplines / Categories

Men and women

Available medals

Gold, silver and bronze in each category 

Rules / aim

This is a simple race to the finish for the 55 men and 55 women with the first three home getting the medals. Olympic triathlons are split into three sections. First, you swim 1500m. Then you take to the roads and cycle 40km then it is the run of 10km that will finally divide the wheat from the chaff.  

However, this relatively simple concept is interrupted by T1 and T2 - the transition periods. T1 takes place in between the swim and the cycle when the athletes have to take off their swimming gear (often a wetsuit) and put on their bike helmets. T2 is between the cycle and run, where, you guessed it, the athletes have to rack up their bikes, take off their helmets and put on their running shoes. 

The transitions can be where a race is won and lost as tris are notoriously competitive and a minute here or there can be the difference.   

Various rules are in place for the transition periods such as you have to have the helmet on before you leave T1 and the bike has to be safely racked before you can leave T2. If any of these rules are broken then time deductions can be made or even disqualification is an option. 

Medal leaders

As one of the youngest Olympic sports there is not much of a pattern to speak of although Australia and New Zealand are doing their best to dominate the medal table with four and three medals respectively. 

No nation has managed more than one gold yet which highlights the breadth and depth of triathlon talent around the globe. 

GB have yet to feature on the podium although multiple world champions have come from these shores so perhaps London will be the place and 2012 the time when they announce their arrival on to the Olympic medals scene.

PODIUM THREAT: Helen Jenkins is a former world champion and Britain's best hope of a medal in the women's triathlon (Delly Carr/ITU)

Team GB Olympic hopes

World Champions from GB include Tim Don (2006), Helen Jenkins (2007) and Alistair Brownlee (2009) so the pedigree is there but this promise has yet to be fulfilled on the greatest stage of all. 

As well as being a former world champ, Brownlee is the reigning European champion and is considered one of the best triathletes in the world. He should be in the shake-up if his preparation goes smoothly. 

Mama and Papa Brownlee could be the proudest parents in London come August 7 as Alistair's younger brother Jonathan is also a highly-rated competitor and has been making a steady rise through the ranks.

The brothers completed a one-two in the world championship race in Madrid and again in the European Championship decider in Pontevedra in June 2011. If these results could be replicated in London an Olympic legend will be born.

Jenkins is the leading British woman and remains a force to be reckoned with since winning the world title in 2007. However, there is a host of young talent coming through, headed by Vicky Holland and Liz Blatchford and any one of these could make history by becoming Britain's first triathlon Olympic medallist. 

The hardest part is ...

Getting athletes to make the move up to elite level. Triathlons are getting more and more popular all around the world among the public but the number of people who make the transition to elite level still needs to grow if the sport is to continue to flourish as an Olympic sport.

This will come with time but the sight of a GB gold at 2012 would certainly quicken up the process in this country. 

The good, the bad and the ugly 

In 2008 the sight of Canada's Simon Whitfield getting up off the deck having crashed on the bike leg and recovering to cut down his rivals in a phenomenal 10k run is the stuff of triathlon legend.

He ended up clocking a record of 1:48:24 which still stands as an unofficial Olympic record (no official records exist as the conditions between venues are so different). He proved he was no one trick pony when winning silver in Beijing eight years later. 

As it has only been going for three Olympiad, triathlons have lacked controversy (which is surely a good thing) although this is unlikely to last for too long.  

PICTURE POSTCARD: The London 2012 triathlon will take it a host of the capital's landmarks, including Buckingham Palace

Did you know?

Many have traced the sport's roots back to 1920's France although 1970's America also has claims as the official founding nation of this gruelling sport.  

Mention

Drafting (cycling behind someone else to lessen wind resistance), bonking (otherwise known as the wall of pain in other sports), and transitions.  

Do not mention

If they were that good surely they would compete in the individual sports?

If it were a London landmark, triathlon would be ...

The Millenium Bridge - opened in 2000 and gradually starting to earn its place among its esteemed company. 

If you like this, watch:

Any of the swimming, cycling or running events.

Want to give it a go?

Triathlon as a sport is growing all the time and many people compete on an amateur basis, often in order to raise money for charity. As a result of this growth, triathlon clubs have starting popping up all over the country. Go on to the British triathlon website and you will be able to find a club nearby.

It is a remarkably technique-based sport so getting the correct coaching and equipment can be the difference. There is only one way to find out if it is your bag so sign up for one and you never know, you could be the next Brownlee.

Links

British Triathlon - www.britishtriathlon.org

London 2012 Triathlon site - www.london2012.com/triathlon

© Sportsbeat 2011