Temporal activity in particular segments and transitions in the olympic triathlon

Abstract

The Olympic Triathlon is a combined endurance sport. It includes back-to-back swimming, cycling, running and the transition between events (T1 & T2). The aim of the current study was to analyse the possible relationship between the Lost Time T1 & T2 and overall performance. The results showed that the percentages of total time corresponding to each part of the race were: 16.2% for swimming, 0.74% for the swimming-cycling transition (T1), 53.07% for cycling, 0.47% for the cycling-running transition (T2) and 29.5% for running. The correlations between each part of the race and the final placing were: r=0.36 for swimming, r=0.25 for T1, r=0.62 for the cycling, r=0.33 for T2, and r=0.83 for the running. Also, values of r=0.34 & r=0.43 were obtained for Lost Time T1 and Lost Time T2, respectively. In conclusion, losing less time during T2 has been demonstrated to be related to obtaining a better final result. © Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics.