A triathlon is a 3-stage competition which includes three continuous enduring sports. The first one usually starts with swimming and then cycling and lastly a 400m marathon race.
The triathlon starts from swimming where opponents wear swimming costumes. Transition areas are set up between all the sports. Opponents can take off their swimming goggles and caps and wear their cycling shoes and helmets in that process. Then starts the cycling zone where all the opponents cycle to a specific distance and enter the racing arena. There the opponents can take off their helmets and start running immediately. The one who crosses the finish line first, is the winner of the whole triathlon.
There are different organizations that organize this event every year such as the WORLD TRAILTHON COOPERATION (WTC). There are different kinds of race formats with specific distances for example, in Novice (Europe), it starts with 400m of swim, 20km of cycling and 5km of running. It’s the standard fitness course in Europe. In contrast to the Olympics, where the swim distance comprises of 1.5km, the cycling is 40km and running is 10km. This is known as ‘international distance’ in the Olympics.
Triathlons are not exactly restricted to these specific distances. They can be any combination of distances set by race organizations. Most triathlons are individual evets but the triathlon which includes more members are known as relay triathlons. Members of the team take turns to finish each segment of the race.
Before the race the athletes are usually provided with a bike rack to hold their bicycles and ground space for shoes and clothing etc. Most triathlons are usually categorized into professional and amateur categories, and then further divided into age groups, sex etc.
Once the triathletes have finished the race, there’s an aid station for food, water, fruits and post-race refreshments.