To help narrow\u00a0down our\u00a0list, though, we focussed on those who\u2019d either utterly dominated\u00a0in their respective distance or achieved world-beating success across all distances. Let\u2019s meet our top-12\u2026<\/p>\n
12. Mirinda Carfrae<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Mirinda Carfrae celebrates winning Challenge Roth on 20 July 2014, in Roth, Germany. Credit: Alex Grimm\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nTwo-time Ironman World Champion and previous holder of the Hawaii course record, the diminutive Mirinda Carfrae is an iron master. She has finished on the podium at Kona for each of her seven starts, and is undoubtedly one of the strongest runners on this list, knocking on the door of 2:50hrs.<\/p>\n
Who is Mirinda Carfrae?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Aussie athlete, known as Rinny, was born in 1981 and started triathlon when she was 19 making the junior elite team in 2001. She represented Australia at the ITU World Triathlon Championships from 2001-2005, earning silver medals in 2002 and 2003, before turning her attention to long-distance racing.<\/p>\n
Early indicators were that this was the distance for her, but it was when she took the world title at the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship that her talent was realised. From there she went on to achieve a 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 1st and a 2nd at the Ironman Worlds.<\/p>\n
- Carfrae wins, Dibens third in Hawaii<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Mirinda Carfrae wins Kona 2014<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In her third Kona world-title race, in 2013, she posted the third fastest marathon overall (2:50:38) and a new run record en route to scoring the then women\u2019s Kona course record in 8:52:14. This stood until 2016 when Daniela Ryf won in\u00a08:46hr<\/strong><\/a>, breaking Carfrae\u2019s Kona course record by over 5mins and nudging Carfrae into silver.<\/p>\n- Mirinda Carfrae on coping with the heat in long-distance triathlons<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Mirinda Carfrae\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n- 2 x ITU Triathlon World U23 Championship runner-up \u2013 2002, 2003<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long Distance World Championship runner-up, 2005<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ironman 70.3 World Champion, 2007<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 x Ironman World Championship<\/strong>\u00a0runner up \u2013 2009, 2011, 2016<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 x Ironman World Champion \u2013 2010, 2013, 2014<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
11. Nicola Spirig<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Switzerland\u2019s Nicola Spirig and Sweden\u2019s Lisa Norden in a photo finish at the 2012 London Olympic Games in Hyde Park. Spirig would take gold. Credit: Tim De Waele\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nBorn in 1982, Swiss star Spirig<\/strong><\/a> is still \u2018one to watch\u2019, having become the queen of one-day performances. A five-time Olympian, and two-time medallist (gold in London<\/strong><\/a>; silver in Rio<\/strong><\/a>), she finished sixth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the same position she finished 13 years earlier at the Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\nThe mother-of-three and qualified lawyer started ITU racing in 1998, aged 16. As well as her Olympic successes she\u2019s also won six European standard-distance titles and her first Ironman on debut at Cozumel in 2o14.<\/p>\n
- Nicola Spirig: Exclusive Q&A<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In 2021 alone she finished second in the 10,000m at the Swiss National Athletics Champs and won the European Middle-Distance Champs in June.\u00a0Add to that, four middle-distance Challenge and one 70.3 race wins.<\/p>\n
Spirig turned 40 in February 2022. How did she celebrate such a milestone? By going sub-8hrs<\/a><\/strong> over the Ironman distance, of course.<\/p>\n- ITU World Junior Triathlon Champion, 2001<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 6 x ETU European Triathlon Champion \u2013 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 5 x Olympian \u2013 2004 (19th) , 2008 (6th), 2012 (1st), 2016 (2nd), 2020 (6th)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Olympic champion, 2012<\/strong><\/li>\n
- European Games champion, 2015<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Olympic silver medallist, 2016<\/strong><\/li>\n
- European Middle Distance Triathlon Champion, 2021<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Sub-8hr long-distance triathlete\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
10. Karen Smyers<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Karen Smyers competing at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on 24 July 1999. Credit: Donald Miralle \/Allsport<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nFor sheer toughness, Karen rivals the best. It took her 17 years for her to DNF from a race when a broken collar bone gave her little choice. She\u2019s also battled thyroid cancer and was even hit by a truck.\u00a0\u201cI got more attention from having cancer and getting hit by a truck than all my races. People love a comeback story,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
And her race record isn\u2019t bad either. During her career she won six consecutive US Pro championships and was ITU World Champion in 1990 and 1995, Ironman World Champion in 1995 (she was the first woman to do the double of winning Ironman and ITU World Champs in one year) and ITU World Cup Champion in 1991. She has also finished second at Kona in 1994 and 1999.<\/p>\n
Who is Karen Smyers?<\/strong><\/h3>\nBorn in 1961 she started competing in triathlon when she moved to Boston, after graduating from Princeton University as she wanted to keep sport in her life after enjoying swimming and running at university.<\/p>\n
In 2005, after having her second child at the age of 44, she posted another top-10 position in Kona. Five years later, she was the 32nd pro female across the line, finishing in 10:19hrs.<\/p>\n
Having\u00a0conquered both the ITU Worlds and Kona, Smyers is a member of an exclusive club in female tri history (see also Erin Baker, Michellie Jones and Leanda Cave). Throw in her multiple US Pro titles, an ITU World Cup series win \u2013 back when it was a major deal for the greatest athletes \u2013 and pure longevity, and it\u2019s easy to see why she\u2019s one of the most venerated athletes in tri history.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also been one of the great ambassadors of the sport for decades, a hugely popular, determined and heroic inspiration to us all.<\/p>\n
Karen Smyers\u2019 career highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n- 2 x ITU World Champion \u2013 1990 & 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Cup Champion, 1991<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Championship runner-up, 1993<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Championship runner-up, 1994<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x Ironman World Championship runner-up \u2013 1994, 1999<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ironman World Champion, 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Pan American Games Champion, 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Champion, 1996<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
9. Erin Baker<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Erin Baker racing at the 1991 Ironman World Championship, on 19 October, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, USA. Credit: Gary Newkirk\/Allsport\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nKiwi athlete Erin Baker has attracted controversy throughout her life. Never one to hide her opinions, she protested against the apartheid during the South African rugby tour of New Zealand, fought gender inequality, and railed at the \u2018useless corrupt old men\u2019 at the International Olympic Committee.<\/p>\n
These rebellions often overshadowed her significant achievements on and off the race course, from becoming the first female ITU world champion in 1989 and the debut Antipodean winner at the Ironman World Champs (1987), to being cited as a major factor in the sport\u2019s establishment of equal prize pots for both men and women.<\/p>\n
The late ITU President, Les McDonald<\/strong><\/a>, attributed one of the reasons behind the move to equal prize money in the sport to athletes like Baker failing to take no for an answer.<\/p>\nWho is Erin Baker?<\/strong><\/h3>\nBaker was born in 1961 and her first sporting successes came in cross-country running. She won her first triathlon in 1984 and a year later she would take her first of three titles at the Nice International Triathlon.<\/p>\n
Wins at Ironman New Zealand in 1986 and 1987 followed before Baker\u2019s first venture on the Big Island of Hawaii in October \u201987, becoming the first athlete from Down Under to win the Hawaii crown, smashing Paula Newby-Fraser\u2019s course record by 14mins in the process.<\/p>\n
- Five famous Kona rivalries and clashes<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In 1990, Baker would take gold at triathlon\u2019s demonstration event at the Commonwealth Games, break the course record at Ironman Canada after a 2:49hr marathon run split, and win Kona in the hottest conditions the race has ever known.<\/p>\n
The 1990 title would be Baker\u2019s last in Hawaii but she\u2019d continue to rack up the victories across every level of multisport, winning the ITU World Duathlon Championships in 1991 and Powerman Zofingen in 1992 and \u201994 to amass a total of 104 wins of the 121 races she entered, including four wins at Ironman New Zealand and two at Ironman Canada.<\/p>\n
220 says: \u201cErin Baker is one of the few on this list to have won major World Championships across standard and long course, having won the first ITU World Series in 1989 and the Ironman World Championships twice. <\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThough the standard and professionalism of the sport has arguably developed since Baker was in her prime, such versatility and ability to switch distances (and win major honours) in successive seasons transcends her era \u2013 as does her maverick reputation!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0Erin Baker\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n- ETU European Triathlon Champion, 1985<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x\u00a0ETU Long-Distance Triathlon European Champion \u2013 1985, 1986<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ETU Middle-Distance Triathlon European Champion, 1986<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x Ironman World Champion \u2013 1987, 1990<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Champion, 1989<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Commonwealth Games Champion, 1990<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Duathlon Champion, 1991<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- 104 wins out of 121 races entered<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
8. Gwen Jorgensen<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Gwen Jorgensen wins triathlon gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, on 20 August, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Adam Pretty\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nBorn in 1986, USA athlete Gwen Jorgensen competed in her first triathlon in 2010 before going on to race at the highest level, dominating the ITU circuit by winning every individual race she entered for three years between 2014 and 2016 (17 consecutive race wins, to be precise). Her winning streak was finally broken at the World Triathlon Gold Coast race in April 2016, when she came second to GB\u2019s Helen Jenkins<\/a><\/strong>. In 2015 she also recorded the fastest run split in all seven of her races.<\/p>\n- How to run like Gwen Jorgensen<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Jorgensen was the first woman to win the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final twice (2014 and 2015) and joins the illustrious quartet of Michellie Jones, Emma Snowsill, Emma Moffatt and Flora Duffy to win back-to-back ITU World Championship titles (2014<\/strong> <\/a>and 2015<\/strong> <\/a>again). It was almost three in a row, but in the end she had to settle for second behind Flora Duffy in 2016.<\/strong><\/a> Not that she will have been too disheartened, having won the ultimate short-course prize \u2013\u00a0Olympic gold in Rio<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 a month earlier.<\/p>\nJorgensen holds the most World Triathlon Series wins (18) of any athlete, and the most career World Triathlon Series podium finishes (23), achieved from 36 starts.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/34\/2017\/10\/GettyImages-452424338-38720e1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Two-time Ironman World Champion and previous holder of the Hawaii course record, the diminutive Mirinda Carfrae is an iron master. She has finished on the podium at Kona for each of her seven starts, and is undoubtedly one of the strongest runners on this list, knocking on the door of 2:50hrs.<\/p>\n
Who is Mirinda Carfrae?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Aussie athlete, known as Rinny, was born in 1981 and started triathlon when she was 19 making the junior elite team in 2001. She represented Australia at the ITU World Triathlon Championships from 2001-2005, earning silver medals in 2002 and 2003, before turning her attention to long-distance racing.<\/p>\n
Early indicators were that this was the distance for her, but it was when she took the world title at the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship that her talent was realised. From there she went on to achieve a 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 1st and a 2nd at the Ironman Worlds.<\/p>\n
- Carfrae wins, Dibens third in Hawaii<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Mirinda Carfrae wins Kona 2014<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In her third Kona world-title race, in 2013, she posted the third fastest marathon overall (2:50:38) and a new run record en route to scoring the then women\u2019s Kona course record in 8:52:14. This stood until 2016 when Daniela Ryf won in\u00a08:46hr<\/strong><\/a>, breaking Carfrae\u2019s Kona course record by over 5mins and nudging Carfrae into silver.<\/p>\n- Mirinda Carfrae on coping with the heat in long-distance triathlons<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Mirinda Carfrae\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n- 2 x ITU Triathlon World U23 Championship runner-up \u2013 2002, 2003<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long Distance World Championship runner-up, 2005<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ironman 70.3 World Champion, 2007<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 x Ironman World Championship<\/strong>\u00a0runner up \u2013 2009, 2011, 2016<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 3 x Ironman World Champion \u2013 2010, 2013, 2014<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
11. Nicola Spirig<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Switzerland\u2019s Nicola Spirig and Sweden\u2019s Lisa Norden in a photo finish at the 2012 London Olympic Games in Hyde Park. Spirig would take gold. Credit: Tim De Waele\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nBorn in 1982, Swiss star Spirig<\/strong><\/a> is still \u2018one to watch\u2019, having become the queen of one-day performances. A five-time Olympian, and two-time medallist (gold in London<\/strong><\/a>; silver in Rio<\/strong><\/a>), she finished sixth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the same position she finished 13 years earlier at the Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\nThe mother-of-three and qualified lawyer started ITU racing in 1998, aged 16. As well as her Olympic successes she\u2019s also won six European standard-distance titles and her first Ironman on debut at Cozumel in 2o14.<\/p>\n
- Nicola Spirig: Exclusive Q&A<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In 2021 alone she finished second in the 10,000m at the Swiss National Athletics Champs and won the European Middle-Distance Champs in June.\u00a0Add to that, four middle-distance Challenge and one 70.3 race wins.<\/p>\n
Spirig turned 40 in February 2022. How did she celebrate such a milestone? By going sub-8hrs<\/a><\/strong> over the Ironman distance, of course.<\/p>\n- ITU World Junior Triathlon Champion, 2001<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 6 x ETU European Triathlon Champion \u2013 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 5 x Olympian \u2013 2004 (19th) , 2008 (6th), 2012 (1st), 2016 (2nd), 2020 (6th)<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Olympic champion, 2012<\/strong><\/li>\n
- European Games champion, 2015<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Olympic silver medallist, 2016<\/strong><\/li>\n
- European Middle Distance Triathlon Champion, 2021<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Sub-8hr long-distance triathlete\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
10. Karen Smyers<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Karen Smyers competing at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on 24 July 1999. Credit: Donald Miralle \/Allsport<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nFor sheer toughness, Karen rivals the best. It took her 17 years for her to DNF from a race when a broken collar bone gave her little choice. She\u2019s also battled thyroid cancer and was even hit by a truck.\u00a0\u201cI got more attention from having cancer and getting hit by a truck than all my races. People love a comeback story,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
And her race record isn\u2019t bad either. During her career she won six consecutive US Pro championships and was ITU World Champion in 1990 and 1995, Ironman World Champion in 1995 (she was the first woman to do the double of winning Ironman and ITU World Champs in one year) and ITU World Cup Champion in 1991. She has also finished second at Kona in 1994 and 1999.<\/p>\n
Who is Karen Smyers?<\/strong><\/h3>\nBorn in 1961 she started competing in triathlon when she moved to Boston, after graduating from Princeton University as she wanted to keep sport in her life after enjoying swimming and running at university.<\/p>\n
In 2005, after having her second child at the age of 44, she posted another top-10 position in Kona. Five years later, she was the 32nd pro female across the line, finishing in 10:19hrs.<\/p>\n
Having\u00a0conquered both the ITU Worlds and Kona, Smyers is a member of an exclusive club in female tri history (see also Erin Baker, Michellie Jones and Leanda Cave). Throw in her multiple US Pro titles, an ITU World Cup series win \u2013 back when it was a major deal for the greatest athletes \u2013 and pure longevity, and it\u2019s easy to see why she\u2019s one of the most venerated athletes in tri history.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also been one of the great ambassadors of the sport for decades, a hugely popular, determined and heroic inspiration to us all.<\/p>\n
Karen Smyers\u2019 career highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n- 2 x ITU World Champion \u2013 1990 & 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Cup Champion, 1991<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Championship runner-up, 1993<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Championship runner-up, 1994<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x Ironman World Championship runner-up \u2013 1994, 1999<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Ironman World Champion, 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Pan American Games Champion, 1995<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU Long-Distance Triathlon World Champion, 1996<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
9. Erin Baker<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Erin Baker racing at the 1991 Ironman World Championship, on 19 October, in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, USA. Credit: Gary Newkirk\/Allsport\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nKiwi athlete Erin Baker has attracted controversy throughout her life. Never one to hide her opinions, she protested against the apartheid during the South African rugby tour of New Zealand, fought gender inequality, and railed at the \u2018useless corrupt old men\u2019 at the International Olympic Committee.<\/p>\n
These rebellions often overshadowed her significant achievements on and off the race course, from becoming the first female ITU world champion in 1989 and the debut Antipodean winner at the Ironman World Champs (1987), to being cited as a major factor in the sport\u2019s establishment of equal prize pots for both men and women.<\/p>\n
The late ITU President, Les McDonald<\/strong><\/a>, attributed one of the reasons behind the move to equal prize money in the sport to athletes like Baker failing to take no for an answer.<\/p>\nWho is Erin Baker?<\/strong><\/h3>\nBaker was born in 1961 and her first sporting successes came in cross-country running. She won her first triathlon in 1984 and a year later she would take her first of three titles at the Nice International Triathlon.<\/p>\n
Wins at Ironman New Zealand in 1986 and 1987 followed before Baker\u2019s first venture on the Big Island of Hawaii in October \u201987, becoming the first athlete from Down Under to win the Hawaii crown, smashing Paula Newby-Fraser\u2019s course record by 14mins in the process.<\/p>\n
- Five famous Kona rivalries and clashes<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
In 1990, Baker would take gold at triathlon\u2019s demonstration event at the Commonwealth Games, break the course record at Ironman Canada after a 2:49hr marathon run split, and win Kona in the hottest conditions the race has ever known.<\/p>\n
The 1990 title would be Baker\u2019s last in Hawaii but she\u2019d continue to rack up the victories across every level of multisport, winning the ITU World Duathlon Championships in 1991 and Powerman Zofingen in 1992 and \u201994 to amass a total of 104 wins of the 121 races she entered, including four wins at Ironman New Zealand and two at Ironman Canada.<\/p>\n
220 says: \u201cErin Baker is one of the few on this list to have won major World Championships across standard and long course, having won the first ITU World Series in 1989 and the Ironman World Championships twice. <\/em><\/p>\n\u201cThough the standard and professionalism of the sport has arguably developed since Baker was in her prime, such versatility and ability to switch distances (and win major honours) in successive seasons transcends her era \u2013 as does her maverick reputation!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0Erin Baker\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n- ETU European Triathlon Champion, 1985<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x\u00a0ETU Long-Distance Triathlon European Champion \u2013 1985, 1986<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ETU Middle-Distance Triathlon European Champion, 1986<\/strong><\/li>\n
- 2 x Ironman World Champion \u2013 1987, 1990<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Champion, 1989<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- Commonwealth Games Champion, 1990<\/strong><\/li>\n
- ITU World Duathlon Champion, 1991<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n
- 104 wins out of 121 races entered<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
8. Gwen Jorgensen<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\"""\"]( "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Gwen Jorgensen wins triathlon gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, on 20 August, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Adam Pretty\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nBorn in 1986, USA athlete Gwen Jorgensen competed in her first triathlon in 2010 before going on to race at the highest level, dominating the ITU circuit by winning every individual race she entered for three years between 2014 and 2016 (17 consecutive race wins, to be precise). Her winning streak was finally broken at the World Triathlon Gold Coast race in April 2016, when she came second to GB\u2019s Helen Jenkins<\/a><\/strong>. In 2015 she also recorded the fastest run split in all seven of her races.<\/p>\n- How to run like Gwen Jorgensen<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
Jorgensen was the first woman to win the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final twice (2014 and 2015) and joins the illustrious quartet of Michellie Jones, Emma Snowsill, Emma Moffatt and Flora Duffy to win back-to-back ITU World Championship titles (2014<\/strong> <\/a>and 2015<\/strong> <\/a>again). It was almost three in a row, but in the end she had to settle for second behind Flora Duffy in 2016.<\/strong><\/a> Not that she will have been too disheartened, having won the ultimate short-course prize \u2013\u00a0Olympic gold in Rio<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 a month earlier.<\/p>\nJorgensen holds the most World Triathlon Series wins (18) of any athlete, and the most career World Triathlon Series podium finishes (23), achieved from 36 starts.<\/p>\n
In her third Kona world-title race, in 2013, she posted the third fastest marathon overall (2:50:38) and a new run record en route to scoring the then women\u2019s Kona course record in 8:52:14. This stood until 2016 when Daniela Ryf won in\u00a08:46hr<\/strong><\/a>, breaking Carfrae\u2019s Kona course record by over 5mins and nudging Carfrae into silver.<\/p>\n Born in 1982, Swiss star Spirig<\/strong><\/a> is still \u2018one to watch\u2019, having become the queen of one-day performances. A five-time Olympian, and two-time medallist (gold in London<\/strong><\/a>; silver in Rio<\/strong><\/a>), she finished sixth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the same position she finished 13 years earlier at the Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\n The mother-of-three and qualified lawyer started ITU racing in 1998, aged 16. As well as her Olympic successes she\u2019s also won six European standard-distance titles and her first Ironman on debut at Cozumel in 2o14.<\/p>\n In 2021 alone she finished second in the 10,000m at the Swiss National Athletics Champs and won the European Middle-Distance Champs in June.\u00a0Add to that, four middle-distance Challenge and one 70.3 race wins.<\/p>\n Spirig turned 40 in February 2022. How did she celebrate such a milestone? By going sub-8hrs<\/a><\/strong> over the Ironman distance, of course.<\/p>\n For sheer toughness, Karen rivals the best. It took her 17 years for her to DNF from a race when a broken collar bone gave her little choice. She\u2019s also battled thyroid cancer and was even hit by a truck.\u00a0\u201cI got more attention from having cancer and getting hit by a truck than all my races. People love a comeback story,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n And her race record isn\u2019t bad either. During her career she won six consecutive US Pro championships and was ITU World Champion in 1990 and 1995, Ironman World Champion in 1995 (she was the first woman to do the double of winning Ironman and ITU World Champs in one year) and ITU World Cup Champion in 1991. She has also finished second at Kona in 1994 and 1999.<\/p>\n Born in 1961 she started competing in triathlon when she moved to Boston, after graduating from Princeton University as she wanted to keep sport in her life after enjoying swimming and running at university.<\/p>\n In 2005, after having her second child at the age of 44, she posted another top-10 position in Kona. Five years later, she was the 32nd pro female across the line, finishing in 10:19hrs.<\/p>\n Having\u00a0conquered both the ITU Worlds and Kona, Smyers is a member of an exclusive club in female tri history (see also Erin Baker, Michellie Jones and Leanda Cave). Throw in her multiple US Pro titles, an ITU World Cup series win \u2013 back when it was a major deal for the greatest athletes \u2013 and pure longevity, and it\u2019s easy to see why she\u2019s one of the most venerated athletes in tri history.<\/p>\n She\u2019s also been one of the great ambassadors of the sport for decades, a hugely popular, determined and heroic inspiration to us all.<\/p>\n Kiwi athlete Erin Baker has attracted controversy throughout her life. Never one to hide her opinions, she protested against the apartheid during the South African rugby tour of New Zealand, fought gender inequality, and railed at the \u2018useless corrupt old men\u2019 at the International Olympic Committee.<\/p>\n These rebellions often overshadowed her significant achievements on and off the race course, from becoming the first female ITU world champion in 1989 and the debut Antipodean winner at the Ironman World Champs (1987), to being cited as a major factor in the sport\u2019s establishment of equal prize pots for both men and women.<\/p>\n The late ITU President, Les McDonald<\/strong><\/a>, attributed one of the reasons behind the move to equal prize money in the sport to athletes like Baker failing to take no for an answer.<\/p>\n Baker was born in 1961 and her first sporting successes came in cross-country running. She won her first triathlon in 1984 and a year later she would take her first of three titles at the Nice International Triathlon.<\/p>\n Wins at Ironman New Zealand in 1986 and 1987 followed before Baker\u2019s first venture on the Big Island of Hawaii in October \u201987, becoming the first athlete from Down Under to win the Hawaii crown, smashing Paula Newby-Fraser\u2019s course record by 14mins in the process.<\/p>\n In 1990, Baker would take gold at triathlon\u2019s demonstration event at the Commonwealth Games, break the course record at Ironman Canada after a 2:49hr marathon run split, and win Kona in the hottest conditions the race has ever known.<\/p>\n The 1990 title would be Baker\u2019s last in Hawaii but she\u2019d continue to rack up the victories across every level of multisport, winning the ITU World Duathlon Championships in 1991 and Powerman Zofingen in 1992 and \u201994 to amass a total of 104 wins of the 121 races she entered, including four wins at Ironman New Zealand and two at Ironman Canada.<\/p>\n 220 says: \u201cErin Baker is one of the few on this list to have won major World Championships across standard and long course, having won the first ITU World Series in 1989 and the Ironman World Championships twice. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThough the standard and professionalism of the sport has arguably developed since Baker was in her prime, such versatility and ability to switch distances (and win major honours) in successive seasons transcends her era \u2013 as does her maverick reputation!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Born in 1986, USA athlete Gwen Jorgensen competed in her first triathlon in 2010 before going on to race at the highest level, dominating the ITU circuit by winning every individual race she entered for three years between 2014 and 2016 (17 consecutive race wins, to be precise). Her winning streak was finally broken at the World Triathlon Gold Coast race in April 2016, when she came second to GB\u2019s Helen Jenkins<\/a><\/strong>. In 2015 she also recorded the fastest run split in all seven of her races.<\/p>\n Jorgensen was the first woman to win the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final twice (2014 and 2015) and joins the illustrious quartet of Michellie Jones, Emma Snowsill, Emma Moffatt and Flora Duffy to win back-to-back ITU World Championship titles (2014<\/strong> <\/a>and 2015<\/strong> <\/a>again). It was almost three in a row, but in the end she had to settle for second behind Flora Duffy in 2016.<\/strong><\/a> Not that she will have been too disheartened, having won the ultimate short-course prize \u2013\u00a0Olympic gold in Rio<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 a month earlier.<\/p>\n Jorgensen holds the most World Triathlon Series wins (18) of any athlete, and the most career World Triathlon Series podium finishes (23), achieved from 36 starts.<\/p>\nMirinda Carfrae\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
11. Nicola Spirig<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>10. Karen Smyers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Who is Karen Smyers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Karen Smyers\u2019 career highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n
9. Erin Baker<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Who is Erin Baker?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u00a0Erin Baker\u2019s career highlights\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
8. Gwen Jorgensen<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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