Interesting that you use a cheater as a good example.
Interesting that you think I picked the example. Reading comprehension isn't a strong suit? I am sure some elite tri guy picked up swimming after 14. They are exceeding rare though.
lance was a triathlete as a junior before he switched to the bike full on.
to the question tho...triathlon is definitely an expensive and inconvenient sport. not very lucrative either. a lot of pros are just failed athletes in other disciplines (usually running), but the best athletes have trained triathlon since they were young like KB and Vincent Luis. The best long course athletes are just short distance guys that transition over in the twilight of their career (just like 5k/10k guys that transition to the marathon).
The best runners arent likely to be failed runners and need to find a new sport, right? also swimming and cycling are probably pretty uncommon in Africa. Europe has a lot of triathletes tho so A lot of French, Spanish, Italians, etc.
Interesting that you use a cheater as a good example.
Interesting that you think I picked the example. Reading comprehension isn't a strong suit? I am sure some elite tri guy picked up swimming after 14. They are exceeding rare though.
Interesting that you think I picked the example. Reading comprehension isn't a strong suit? I am sure some elite tri guy picked up swimming after 14. They are exceeding rare though.
You went with the example of a cheater, no?
Nope. Go read the thread again and you will see I didn't pick Lance.
Do people just not realize that it's just not mathematically plausible for minorities to be distributed evenly or representatively across every activity? In the US, the population is majority white and the other racial groups make up small percentages of the rest of the population. Of each minority, only a very small percentage of those populations are going to be elite athletes. Using black americans as an example, a lot of their elite athletes are in basketball, football, then baseball and soccer, then track and field in that order. After that, there's not going to be a lot of elite athletes within that already small population left to play niche sports like triathlons.
tl;dr - before immediately jumping to racism, do some math first.
There is no real interest in triathlon, especially amongst younger people, compared to lots of other sports. Access to youth swim programs is also limited low-income areas still.
The past few years Triathlon has had an increase in prize money in some races but elite cyclists/runners can definitely make a more reliable living in those individual sports.
There are some companies and organizations making efforts to get a more diverse group of athletes into the sport but in order to diversify the professional field, we'll need to see more college athletes looking at triathlon as a viable career. It's not there yet.
As someone who recently started following the sport, I've noticed that most of the elite competitive athletes in triathlon are White. Given that there are so many elite non-White runners, why aren't there more People of Color who dominate triathlon? Especially since running is one of the longer components of triathlon races.
OP, you say you've noticed that "non-white runners" and "people of color" aren't participating, predominating or featuring prominently in triathlon to the extent you think they should. But pray tell, what is the sex of the people you think are getting short shrift?
How come you haven't pointed out or at least acknowledged that athletes in triathlon are predominantly male?
Why are you posting that you notice and feel discomfited by the race/skin color disparities amongst athletes in triathlon without spending a moment commenting on the disparities of sex?
I know for a fact that there are millions of POCs who dream of the opportunity to do an Ironman. The legacy of white racism and unconscious bias are holding them back. Until POCs are winning Kona at the same percentage as they exist in the population, then unconscious bias exists and white people are guilty!
I know for a fact that there are millions of POCs who dream of the opportunity to do an Ironman. The legacy of white racism and unconscious bias are holding them back. Until POCs are winning Kona at the same percentage as they exist in the population, then unconscious bias exists and white people are guilty!
Using your logic: I know for a fact that there are millions of whites who dream of the opportunity to do a Marathon. The legacy of POC racism and unconscious bias are holding them back. Until whites are winning Marathons at the same percentage as they exist in the population, then unconscious bias exists and POC people are guilty!
Swimming and biking are mostly sports for rich countries. They require access to a pool, safe paved roads, and expensive bikes. Top swimmers all go through well organized and coached swim programs that start at very early ages. Swimming and biking are really only popular in a small subset of countries.
As far as dominating, the body type that makes an elite swimmer is very different from the body type that makes an elite runner. Elite triathletes fall in the middle in addition to having quads powerful enough to ride fast on a bike. Your average elite runner has a horrible body type for swimming. They also have a horrible body type for Nordic skiing. If Kristian Blummenfelt lined up for an elite 10k the sight of him next to elite runners would be laughable.
Swimming is the least important/impactful of the 3 triathlon disciplines. If you are good on the Bike and Run you can make up for being a weaker Swimmer.
Sorry, but no. I've been there and have not done that. You cannot make up all of the lost time on the bike and run.
East Africans would dominate this sport if they had to equity to compete in it. If one ca run a 2:45 marathon off the bike and swim your going to be world champion.