The triathlon is among the newest sports at the Olympics, having made its debut at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Since then, the men's and women's individual events have been held every year. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the mixed team relay made its debut, and the event will continue in Paris.

Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain holds the men's Olympic triathlon record of 1 hour, 45 minutes, 1 second, set during the Rio Olympics. The gold medal-winning performance was Brownlee's second Olympic title, making him the only man to win multiple triathlon gold medals.

Flora Duffy of Bermuda is the all-time women's leader in the Olympic triathlon. She clocked in at 1:55:36 during the Tokyo Olympic event.

In the mixed team relay, which has only occurred once, Great Britain won the gold medal with a time of 1:23:41.

Tokyo 2020 (Men): Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt won the nation’s first triathlon medal, winning the men’s event in 1:45:04. Alex Yee of Great Britain finished 11 seconds behind for the silver medal, while New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde claimed bronze with a time of 1:45:24.

Tokyo 2020 (Women): Bermuda’s Flora Duffyfy set the women’s record with her gold medal-winning performance of 1:55:36. Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain and Katie Zaferes of the U.S. won silver and bronze, respectively.

Tokyo 2020 (Mixed Team Relay): The inaugural mixed team relay triathlon at the Olympic Games saw Great Britain win gold, executing a time of 1:23:41. The U.S. won silver (1:23:55), and France took bronze (1:24:04.)

Rio 2016 (Men): Alistair Brownlee won his second consecutive gold medal, setting a new Olympic record with a time of 1:45:01. His younger brother, Jonny Brownlee, finished just six seconds behind him for the silver medal. South Africa’s Henri Schoeman took bronze.

Rio 2016 (Women): Gwen Jorgensen clinched the first U.S. women’s triathlon medal with a gold medal performance, edging Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig in a time of 1:56:16. Great Britain’s Vicky Holland secured the bronze medal with a time of 1:57:01.

London 2012 (Men): Racing in front of his home fans, Alistair Brownlee won the gold medal, the first Olympic triathlon medal for Great Britain. His younger brother, Jonny Brownlee, received the bronze after finishing behind Spain's Javier Gomez Noya. 

London 2012 (Women): In a dramatic photo finish, Switzerland's Nicola Spirig edged Sweden's Lisa Norden for the gold medal. American Sarah (Groff) True was 10 seconds off the podium, behind bronze medalist Erin Densham of Australia. Fellow U.S. triathlete Jorgensen finished 38th after suffering a flat tire on the bicycle portion of the competition.

Beijing 2008 (Men): Jan Frodeno of Germany won the men's triathlon, edging Simon Whitfield of Canada in an exciting four-man sprint finish. Whitfield led momentarily just a few yards from the finish line, but Frodeno raced past him to win by about five seconds. Bevan Docherty of New Zealand took the bronze. 

Beijing 2008 (Women): Emma Snowsill had time to grab a flag, slow down and wave before crossing the finish line to win the first Olympic triathlon gold medal for Australia. She finished more than a minute ahead of the field. Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal secured the silver, and Emma Moffatt of Australia took the bronze.

Athens 2004 (Men): The men's event saw Kiwis reach the top of the podium with Hamish Carter of New Zealand besting compatriot Bevan Docherty. Docherty led Carter by seven seconds after the 1.5km swim, but Carter made up the difference and opened a five-second lead after the 40km bike ride and never looked back. Sven Riederer of Switzerland took home the bronze. Whitfield, the gold medalist in Sydney, finished 11th.

Athens 2004 (Women): Austria's Kate Allen was the surprise winner of the women's event. At the end of the triathlon's first leg — the swim — Allen was in 44th place. But with a strong bike performance over a difficult 40km course, she worked her way up to 12th going into the run, two minutes, 52 seconds behind leader Loretta Harrop of Australia. Allen made up the difference over the 10km run, passing Harrop in the final meters of the race. Allen finished with a time of 2:04:43.45, seven seconds ahead of Harrop.

Sydney 2000 (Men): With an estimated 300,000 spectators lining the course, Canada's Simon Whitfield became the first Olympic men's triathlon champion by surging past Germany's Stephan Vuckovic in the final 250 meters of the run. Prior to this victory, Whitfield never placed higher than seventh in a major world-class event. Four-time world champion Simon Lessing of Great Britain and reigning world champion Olivier Marceau of France were in good position throughout the swim and cycling legs, but faded in the run, opening the door for Whitfield's unexpected victory.

Sydney 2000 (Women): In the first Olympic women's triathlon, American Sheila Taormina, who competed in swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Games, predictably led after the opening leg. But Australian favorite Michellie Jones, backed by an exuberant hometown crowd and helped by a quick transition from bike to run, had a narrow advantage to start the footrace for gold. On the final lap, in the shadow of Sydney's Opera House, Switzerland's Brigitte McMahon shadowed Jones. With a stirring final sprint, McMahon pulled away to win by 2.03 seconds.