What is now World Triathlon was created in 1989 and held its first World Championships in the same year. It was in the year 2000, though, that triathlon took a quantum leap forward. Having been approved in 1994, triathlon made its first ever appearance at the Olympic Games in 2000 and in doing so entered the big time.
Men
With a first Olympic medal on offer, much of the men’s field raced sparingly in 2000, opting to put all of their eggs in the Olympic basket. As a result, across the World Cups that year, no man won more than one race. Instead, everyone’s eyes were focused on the ultimate target of Olympic gold.
The big dress rehearsal for Sydney came at the world championships. In 2000, they came early in the season. Held in Perth in April, they gave the world’s elite triathletes two major events in Australia within six months.
With a field including a number of 1990s veterans and rising future stars of the 2000s, a packed field took to the water.
Olivier Marceau, Hamish Carter and Craig Walton were part of a small lead group out of the water however the field quickly came back together on the bike. A small group of five, including Marceau, Walton and Carter then broke clear. By the time they arrived in T2, they had a substantial lead over the field of close to a minute.
Marceau was quick to take control of the run and he ran clear to win the world title.
From the chase pack, Peter Robertson ran the fastest split of the day, a 31:01, to overtake the rest of the breakaway and win his first World Championship medal. Craig Walton held on for bronze.
By the time the athletes arrived in Sydney for the Olympics, it was clear the lessons of Perth had been heeded.
Walton set a furious tempo in the water, causing Marceau to lose over 30 seconds while Robertson lost over a minute. Both rallied on the bike as the field re-grouped but expended a lot of energy in doing so. Having seen the risk of letting a small group escape in Perth, the race was fairly tight on the bike. The first Olympic Games triathlon therefore became a foot race out of T2.
In a surprising turn, none of the medallists from Perth could match the speed on show and Simon Whitfield ran to Olympic glory on the back of a field-leading 30:52 split.
Stefan Vuckovic followed 13 seconds later to earn silver while Jan Rehula rounded out the podium.
Women
Much like the men’s field, the elite women were highly selective of their racing opportunities in 2000 and built their season around Sydney. Michellie Jones and Siri Lindley each won three World Cup medals in 2000. However, across the board there were no regular racers that dominated as would happen later in the decade.
The world championships in Perth gave perhaps the best insight into the field in the run up to Sydney. In Perth, Nicole Hackett had the second fastest swim and the fastest bike which helped her to build a comprehensive lead going into T2.
Although silver medallist Carol Montgomery out-ran Hackett by two minutes, Hackett’s lead was such that she held on to win by six seconds. Michellie Jones took bronze in front of a home Australian crowd.
Montgomery had been a leading force in the 1990s and the field was cognizant of the danger she possessed in Sydney. Hackett’s strategy in Perth, then, set a useful template.
However, if Hackett had set an example, Sheila Taormina, the 2004 world champion, took it to a new level entirely.
In a blistering swim, she arrived in T1 35 seconds ahead of the next best woman. For much of the early part of the bike, Taormina was alone. A pack of 14 women slipped ahead of the bike and caught Taormina, and the 15 women rode together into T2, gaining well over a minute on the chase. Crucially, Montgomery was part of that chase and ultimately did not finish the bike leg.
As the select group arrived in T2, including Hackett and Michellie Jones. However it was Brigitte McMahon that stormed ahead to win.
Jones won silver while Magali Messmer took bronze.
The fastest run actually came from Stephanie Forrester from the chase and she out-split McMahon by 50 seconds. She nonetheless could only finish 15th after losing too much time on the swim and bike.
You can watch the women’s race in Sydney here.
