For this reason it has always been considered one of the harshest contests to test physical and mental limits to be thought up by man.
The Olympic triathlon will cover the following distances: swimming 1.500, cycling 40 km and running 10 km, with short transition phases in the changeover area which is limited to competitors.

Physiology
Like in other sports endurance contests what represents the main success of the triathlon athlete is his ability to produce incredible energy at extremely fast and prolonged rhythms.

Features of the elite triathlon athlete
The triathlon athlete is neither a swimmer, cyclist nor runner he represents instead the best mix of all three. He is a unique athlete, versatile and polyvalent, someone who is especially suited to a sport that requires a working blend of strength linked to speed, ability and endurance in order to facilitate respiratory, cardiovascular and neuropsychic features.

Elite triathlon athletes are usually long-limbed, stenic-tonic creatures whose height is a selective but not determining factor. On the other hand the link between weight and height between 0,38 to 0,35 is selective and determining, given that movements force the body into broad, fast, repetitive and dynamic activity with a heavy workout load.

Training
Aerobic ability, anaerobic threshold and economy of athletic movement are the qualities that triathlon training should concentrate on bettering, in all three sports of the contest.
During training each of the three types of athletic movements produce slightly different loads on the cardiovascular system and therefore require specific adjustments. The body's horizontal position in the water whilst swimming, for example, as well as the positive pressure of the water, cause such hemodynamic changes that in a comparable volume of oxygen, cardiac frequency will be lower than during exercise carried out whilst upright. In cycling arterial pressure can increase, causing the heart to not only react to the typical overload of volume in endurance training, but also to the overload of pressure. In running the increase of sweat and the diminished capacity of replacing lost liquids can mean that the heart pumps less blood than is needed in order to carry out the exercise at a certain level.
Professional top level athletes of this kind tackle their daily training with aggression and ambition; for them training at a mediocre level is equivalent to nurturing mediocre competitive ambitions. The sophisticated triathlon athlete is able to obtain excellent benefits only after years of training in all three sports. This is because carrying out and taking advantage of quality training in all three, so that his personal anaerobic threshold is increased and his athletic movement is reduced, takes years of heavy training.

Curiosity
How was the triathlon born?
The triathlon was invented after a discussion to determine whether a swimmer, cyclist or runner is the fittest athlete. This was established when it was decided to mix the three sports, resulting in 15 men competing for the title Triathlon Ironman in 1978. The distances remain the same today: 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.195 running.

What are the distances to reach in Olympic triathlon?
However, the olympic triathlon will feature more accessible distances: 1500m swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running.

How is transition from a discipline to other carried out?
The athletes will carry out the transition between the three sports in a special area called the changeover area. The best triathlon athletes will effect the first changeover from swimming to cycling between 30 and 45 seconds, with the second from cycling to running in just 15-30 seconds.
Elite triathlon athletes will take around 16-17 minutes to complete the swimming phase, less than an hour of cycling and about 31-32 minutes to complete the final running phase.
By Dr Massimo Bolognesi, Sports Medicine and Internal Medicine specialist.