triathlon, an endurance contest involving , , and . The sport evolved out of a 1970s American craze for and fitness and was introduced as an sport at the .The sport debuted in , , on September 25, 1974, when a race organized by local athletes Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan was dubbed a triathlon. The event saw 46 competitors swim 460 meters (500 yards), run 9.6 km (6 miles), and bike 8 km (5 miles). Several years later John Collins, a officer stationed in who had finished 35th in the San Diego race, established the Hawaiian Ironman. That triathlon begins with a 3.8-km (2.4-mile) swim, followed by a 180-km (112-mile) bicycle ride and a 42-km (26.2-mile) run (the equivalent of a ). Only 15 athletes participated in the inaugural Hawaiian Ironman triathlon, but the race quickly gained international attention and became the sport’s premier competition. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Hawaiian Ironman (now called Ironman World Championship) regularly attracted some 1,600 competitors representing more than 50 countries.While triathlons were initially sponsored by local clubs, the more important races, including the Hawaiian Ironman, soon began to garner corporate sponsorships. In 1989 the International Triathlon Union (ITU; now called World Triathlon), the sport’s official governing body, was founded in Avignon, , with the mission to promote the sport’s global appeal. World Triathlon hosts an annual World Championship Series., Many, including triathlon historian and author Scott Tinley, consider events in early 20th-century France to be the beginnings of triathlon, with many three-element multisport events of differing composition appearing, all called by different names. [8][9] The earliest record for an event was from 1901 in Joinville-le-Pont, Val-de-Marne, it , Triathlon History Summary ⏳ Origins and Evolution: Triathlon emerged in the early 20th century, combining swimming, cycling, and running into a single endurance event. Originating in France, it gained momentum in the United States in the 1970s, eventually becoming the global sport we know today..