Early editions : Canada, New Zealand and Australia lead the charge, Alpine glory for women. From 2000, the triathlon competition consisted of a men's and a women's event. A third event, the mixed medley relay involving four triathletes each covering the sprint distance, was introduced in 2021. The inaugural women's event was the first to be contested during the Sydney Games, and crowned
Swiss triathlete
Brigitte McMahon as the first Olympic champion, over the heavy-favorite Australians. The following day,
Simon Whitfield of
Canada, who was not considered one of the favorites, came from behind and took the men's gold medal with a 200-meter sprint finish. In similar fashion, long-distance specialist
Kate Allen of
Austria secured the women's Olympic title in
2004.
New Zealand placed two male triathletes in the top two, as
Hamish Carter and
Bevan Docherty won the gold and silver medals, respectively. At the
2008 Summer Olympics, Whitfield was on the verge of repeating his 2000 success, but failed to keep his lead over
Jan Frodeno of
Germany in the final meters, who pipped the Canadian to the gold medal. The
Australian power in women's triathlon was rewarded at the Beijing Games, when three-time world champion and favorite
Emma Snowsill clinched the gold medal and
Emma Moffatt secured the bronze. After securing a second career Olympic medal in Beijing, Simon Whitfield (one gold and one silver) and Bevan Docherty (one silver and one bronze) were the only triathletes to have won more than one Olympic medal. Alex Yee claimed gold after passing a close rival,
Hayden Wilde of New Zealand. France's
Léo Bergère claimed bronze, the first male French medalist in the Olympic event. ==Men==