What is the difference between...

[rocknrollgirl]

An international distance tri and an olympic.

We have the standard olympic here and also races that are billed as "international distance". Is this a standard all over, or is this just a weird regional thing 'round these parts...where we swim in poo..........

So Oly....... .9m swim, 25 mile bike, 10 k run...

International??? we have one listed as 1/2 mile swim, 29 bike, 4.2 mile run.

Is somebody just making this up?????

[Veronica]

I like that International Distance - more biking, less running!

V.

[Veronica]

It sounds like maybe it's a made up distance. Maybe poo has to be involved as well...

Here's what Wikipedia (knows all) says about various distances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triathl...race_distances

V.

[rocknrollgirl]

The ITU accepts a 5% margin of error in the cycle and run course distances.[1]

Name Swim Bicycle Run Notes
Kids of Steel 100 - 750 m 5-15 km 1-5 km
Distances vary with age of athlete. See: Ironkids

Novice (Australia) 300 m 8 km 2 km Distances vary, but this is a standard Novice distance course in Australia.

Super Sprint 400 m(6.2 mi) 2.5 km Super Sprint course.

Sprint 750 m(0.5 mi) 20 km(12.4 mi) 5 km(3.1 mi) A 500 m swim is also common. The Sprint Distance is the fastest growing triathlon race distance in the United States

Olympic 1.5 km(24.8 mi) 10 km(6.2 mi)
Also known as "international distance", "standard course", or "short course


Though there can be some variation in race distances, particularly among short triathlons, most triathlons conform to one of those above standards.