{"id":15211,"date":"2022-06-16T10:14:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T08:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=7701"},"modified":"2022-06-16T11:40:21","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T09:40:21","slug":"25-best-moments-in-olympic-and-paralympic-triathlon-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/25-best-moments-in-olympic-and-paralympic-triathlon-history\/","title":{"rendered":"25 best moments in Olympic and Paralympic triathlon history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By 220 Triathlon Team\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 16 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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On 16 September 2000, short-course triathlon was beamed to a global audience. Set\u00a0against a Sydney Opera House backdrop, the world\u2019s very best male and female triathletes showed the world what it meant to be an endurance athlete. By the end of the day, six athletes were presented with\u00a0medals and an audience of millions was\u00a0transfixed.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since that groundbreaking day, five more iconic cities \u2013 Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo \u2013 have watched on as 32 more Olympic medals have been awarded. We\u2019ve seen epic crashes, penalties issued, bikes carried, photo finishes and stray boats! Lifelong dreams have been realised and obliterated within seconds of each other.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just the Olympic action. In 2016, paratriathlon made its glorious debut on Copacabana Beach at the Paralympic Games; five years later the mixed relay event would take its spectacularly frenetic bow.<\/p>\n

So how did we narrow all that action down to just 25 highlights?! Well, it wasn\u2019t easy, but someone had to do it\u2026<\/p>\n

25. Rising highest<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Rio Olympic Games 2016<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Gwen Jorgensen wins gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games (Credit: International Triathlon Union\/Delly Carr)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

As Brit Simon Lessing in 2000 and Javier Gomez<\/strong><\/a> in 2008 will testify, the Olympic Games triathlons haven\u2019t always been kind to the pre-race favourites. Yet Gwen Jorgensen rose above the doubts in 2016 to claim gold<\/a> <\/strong>and enter multisport\u2019s list of immortals. With the Copacabana in Rio, Brazil, as the unrivalled backdrop, the American stayed near the front on the swim and bike legs, proving to her critics once and for all that she could handle herself on two wheels. <\/span><\/p>\n

The 10km run became a straight shootout between the American and Switzerland\u2019s reigning Olympic champion, Nicola Spirig<\/strong><\/a>. The two hadn\u2019t faced one another since London 2012, and the mid-race sparring could be heard from the grandstand. Yet Jorgensen refused to be broken by the wily, tough-as-teak Swiss, and broke away with a lap to go to finally scoop America\u2019s first Olympic Games tri gold.<\/span><\/p>\n