Triathlon
While taekwondo and triathlon both debuted as the newest Olympic sports at the Sydney 2000 Games, triathlon was literally the newest sport. Although the origins of taekwondo date back thousands of years, the triathlon dates back to 1978. [Full story]
List of Events
- • Individual Men
- • Individual Women
Athlete Quota:
Men 55
Women 55
TOTAL 110
- TIMELINE
- PRINCIPLES
- SYSTEMS
- ENTRY
- POINTS
QUALIFICATION TIMELINE
| DATE | Event |
| 1 June 2006-17 June 2008 | Period of Olympic Qualification |
| 1 May 2007-1 May 2008 | Period for continental qualifying events |
| July 2007 | ITU Continental Olympic qualifier for Americas, Pan American Games Triathlon, Rio De Janeiro (BRA) |
| 15 November 2007 | Deadline for the submission of requests for Tripartite Commission Invitation places by all NOCs |
| 31 January 2008 | The Tripartite Commission will confirm, in writing, a preliminary allocation of Invitation places to the NOCs |
| 2-3 May 2008 | 2008 Guanzhou ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships, China |
| 4 May 2008 | 2008 Roatan ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup, Honduras |
| 4 May 2008 | 2008 Richards Bay BG Triathlon World Cup, South Africa |
| 10-11 May 2008 | 2008 Lisbon ETU Triathlon European Championships, Portugal |
| 10-11 May 2008 | 2008 Subic Bay ITU Triathlon Asian Cup, Philippines |
| 18 May 2008 | 2008 Brno ITU Triathlon European Cup, Czech Republic |
| 18 May 2008 | 2008 Isla Margarita ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup - PATCO Triathlon South American Championship, Venezuela |
| 23-24 May 2008 | 2008 Yicheng ITU Triathlon Asian Cup, China |
| 24-25 May 2008 | 2008 Serres ETU Duathlon European Championships, Greece |
| 25 May 2008 | 2008 Madrid BG Triathlon World Cup, Spain |
| 25 May 2008 | 2008 Amakusa ITU Triathlon Asian Cup, Japan |
| 8 June 2008 | 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships, Vancouver (CAN) |
| April-July 2008 | Tripartite Commission to confirm allocation of Tripartite Commission Invitation places |
| 23 June 2008 | ITU to inform NOCs of qualification places |
| 6 July 2008 | NOCs to inform ITU of use of qualification places |
| 7 July 2008 | ITU to confirm final allocation of qualification places |
| 23 July 2008 | Deadline for Beijing 2008 Organising Committee to receive entry forms submitted by NOCs |
QUALIFICATION SYSTEM PRINCIPLES-MEN AND WOMEN
| Event | Qualification | Total |
| Continental Olympic Qualifying Events | The winner of each of the 5 Continental Olympic Qualifying Events gains a qualification place for their NOC | 5 |
| 2008 Triathlon World Championships | The top 3 finishers (other than the athletes mentioned above) gain a qualification place for their NOC | 3 |
| ITU Olympic Qualification Ranking | 39 places will be allocated to the NOCs of the highest ranked athletes on the ITU Olympic Qualification Ranking, at the time of the 2008 World Championships, who have not yet qualified a place for their NOC | 39 |
| ITU Continental Rankings | 5 places will be allocated to the first NOCs in the ITU Continental Rankings without an eligible athlete in the 47 places allocated as above | 5 |
| Host nation | 1 place shall be reserved for the host nation if not otherwise qualified | 1 |
| Tripartite Commission Invitations | 2 Invitation places shall be allocated by the Tripartite Commission | 2 |
| Total | Men Women |
55 55 |
QUALIFICATION SYSTEM
NOCs will be attributed qualification places, as per the detailed selection criteria noted below, and will
select from eligible athletes to fill these places. Athletes may not qualify their NOC more than one (1)
qualification place.
| Continental Olympic Qualifying Events | Olympic places 1 to 5 will be allocated to the NOC of the winner of each of the 5 continental Olympic
Qualifying events, for a total of five (5) men and five (5) women. The continental Olympic Qualifying events may take place any time between 15 May 2007 and 15 May 2008. |
5 places |
| 2008 Triathlon World Championships | Olympic places 6 to 8 (three (3) men and three (3) women) will be allocated to the NOC of the top 3
finishers from the 2008 Triathlon World Championships. The athletes achieving these positions also
gain eligibility for selection. |
3 places |
| ITU Olympic Qualification Ranking | Olympic places 9 to 47 will be allocated to the NOCs in order of the highest ranked athletes on the ITU Olympic Qualification Rankings, at the date of 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships, who have not previously qualified their NOC a place. | 39 places |
| ITU Continental Rankings | Olympic places 48 to 52 will be allocated to the first NOC in the "ITU Continental Rankings" without an
eligible athlete in the allocated places 1 to 47 as of 15 July 2008. The minimum eligibility criteria
apply. |
5 places |
| Host nation | Olympic place 53 (one (1) man and one (1) woman) will be awarded to the host nation. If China achieves qualification through ITU competitions, of if China has no eligible athlete, place 53 will return to the ITU Olympic Qualification Rankings. The minimum eligibility criteria also apply to the places allocated to the host nation. | 1 place |
| Tripartite Commission (IOC-ANOC-ITU) Invitation places | Olympic places 54 to 55 (for a total of two (2) men and two (2) women) will be allocated to Tripartite Commission Invitation places. The deadline for NOCs to submit their requests for Tripartite Commission Invitation places is 15 November 2007. |
2 places |
| Minimum eligibility criteria | Athletes eligible for selection for the Olympic Games shall be only those adequately prepared for high level international competition and fill qualification positions gained by their NOC. Athlete eligibility will be gained by achieving a top 125 ITU Olympic Qualification Ranking (as of the 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships scheduled for 8 June 2008) or by winning a place for their NOC at the 2008 ITU Triathlon World Championships. |
Entries confirmed
The following teams are entitled to take part in the Olympic Tournament:
NOC Code |
Men |
Women |
Total |
CAN |
3 |
3 |
6 |
GER |
3 |
3 |
6 |
NZL |
3 |
3 |
6 |
SUI |
3 |
3 |
6 |
USA |
3 |
3 |
6 |
AUS |
2 |
3 |
5 |
AUT |
2 |
3 |
5 |
FRA |
3 |
2 |
5 |
GBR |
3 |
2 |
5 |
JPN |
2 |
3 |
5 |
RUS |
3 |
2 |
5 |
ESP |
2 |
2 |
4 |
ITA |
2 |
2 |
4 |
CHN |
1 |
2 |
3 |
CZE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
NED |
1 |
2 |
3 |
POL |
1 |
2 |
3 |
POR |
2 |
1 |
3 |
RSA |
1 |
2 |
3 |
BEL |
|
|
2 |
BRA |
1 |
1 |
2 |
HKG |
1 |
1 |
2 |
KAZ |
|
|
2 |
LUX |
1 |
1 |
2 |
UKR |
1 |
1 |
2 |
BER |
|
|
1 |
CHI |
|
|
1 |
DEN |
|
|
1 |
EST |
|
|
1 |
GRE |
|
|
1 |
HUN |
|
|
1 |
IRL |
|
|
1 |
MEX |
|
|
1 |
SVK |
|
|
1 |
SWE |
|
|
1 |
SYR |
|
|
1 |
ZIM |
|
|
1 |
ITU Olympic Qualification Points system:
The top fifty (50) athletes earn points at ITU World Cup and World Championship events. The top thirty (30) athletes earn points at ITU Continental Championships.
Athletes must finish within a 10% cut-off. (for both men and women)
The points will remain the same value throughout the entire qualification period.
It will be based on the following points table:
| Place | World Champs | World Cup | Continental Champs | Place | World Champs | World Cup | Continental Champs |
| 1 | 1000 | 500 | 400 | 26 | 142 | 71 | 57 |
| 2 | 925 | 463 | 370 | 27 | 132 | 66 | 53 |
| 3 | 856 | 428 | 342 | 28 | 122 | 61 | 49 |
| 4 | 791 | 396 | 317 | 29 | 113 | 56 | 45 |
| 5 | 732 | 366 | 293 | 30 | 104 | 52 | 42 |
| 6 | 677 | 339 | 271 | 31 | 96 | 48 | |
| 7 | 626 | 313 | 251 | 32 | 89 | 45 | |
| 8 | 579 | 290 | 232 | 33 | 83 | 41 | |
| 9 | 536 | 268 | 214 | 34 | 76 | 38 | |
| 10 | 496 | 248 | 198 | 35 | 71 | 35 | |
| 11 | 459 | 229 | 183 | 36 | 65 | 33 | |
| 12 | 424 | 212 | 170 | 37 | 60 | 30 | |
| 13 | 392 | 196 | 157 | 38 | 56 | 28 | |
| 14 | 363 | 181 | 145 | 39 | 52 | 26 | |
| 15 | 336 | 168 | 134 | 40 | 48 | 24 | |
| 16 | 311 | 155 | 124 | 41 | 44 | 22 | |
| 17 | 287 | 144 | 115 | 42 | 41 | 20 | |
| 18 | 266 | 133 | 106 | 43 | 38 | 19 | |
| 19 | 246 | 123 | 98 | 44 | 35 | 18 | |
| 20 | 227 | 114 | 91 | 45 | 32 | 16 | |
| 21 | 210 | 105 | 84 | 46 | 30 | 15 | |
| 22 | 195 | 97 | 78 | 47 | 28 | 14 | |
| 23 | 180 | 90 | 72 | 48 | 26 | 13 | |
| 24 | 166 | 83 | 67 | 49 | 24 | 12 | |
| 25 | 154 | 77 | 62 | 50 | 22 | 11 |
Competition Venues
Hall of Fame
Simon Whitfield When Simon Whitfield was younger, he decided that someday he wanted to be included in the Encyclopedia Britannica. He realized that for an athlete to be included, he would have to be the best in the world in something. Whitfield, who had joint Canadian-Australian citizenship, was not one of the favorites at the Olympics ... [Full story]
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