USA Triathlon history

1983 – “Triathlon: A Triple Fitness Sport” is the first book published on triathlon.

1988 – South Africa’s Paula Newby-Fraser clocks a dominating 9:01:01 finish at the Ironman World Championships, beating the women’s course record by 35 minutes and placing 11th overall.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) was founded in 1989 in Avignon, France, the site of the first official world championships.

The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) was founded in 1990 and organizes, licenses, and promotes the Ironman Triathlon Series, culminating each year with the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon World Championships.

1991 – The ITU launches its first full season of the World Cup circuit (what is now known as World Triathlon Series, or WTS). Eleven races in nine different countries make up the series, each one offering equal prize purses to men and women.

USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon, of which it sanctions more than 2000 races each year.

2004 – Susan Williams, a 35-year-old mom from Long Beach, California, nabs the first Olympic medal for the United States in triathlon, earning bronze at the Athens Games.

2007 – The triathlon world is shocked when rookie Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain, in a pair of borrowed shorts and with a broken bike pedal held together with glue, wins the Ironman World Championship in 9:08:45.

2008 – Marisol Casado, a former elite triathlete from Spain, is elected President of the ITU, making her the only woman to head an international summer sport federation and only one of two in the entire Olympic program.

2009 – Anu Vaidyanathan becomes the first Indian triathlete, male or female, to complete an Ironman triathlon.

Her Cinderella story was no fluke, as Wellington would go on to become one of the most dominant athletes in the sport, with an undefeated record, an Iron-distance world record (8:18:13, set in 2011 at Challenge Roth), and multiple wins at the iconic Alpe d’Huez triathlon.

2012 – After growing frustrated with a lack of coverage for women in triathlon press, Australian age-group triathlete Stef Hanson launches Witsup, the first media outlet dedicated solely to coverage of women’s triathlon.

2013 – At the PruHealth World Triathlon in London, Shirin Gerami becomes the first Iranian woman to compete at a triathlon, training and racing in full hijab, or loose-fitting clothing and headscarf required under Iranian law.

Founded in 2014 by a volunteer board of trustees, the USA Triathlon Foundation was started to transform lives through triathlon.

The first general Foundation grant opportunities were announced in January 2015, and the first grant awards were given on April 16, 2015, to 14 organizations distributed throughout the United States supporting youth, paratriathletes and Olympic/Paralympic hopefuls.

In 2018, the Foundation hired its first employee, Executive Director Dave Deschenes.

In 2019, the Foundation received over 150 applications from organizations or individuals asking for more than $500,000 to support their programs.