About the Program
USA Triathlon’s Talent ID Program identifies, mentors, and supports runners and swimmers whose unique skillsets could translate to success in elite triathlon. We are constantly looking to give athletes who have proven themselves in their respective individual sports an opportunity to excel on the multi-sport world stage.
Previous graduates of this program include 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, Gwen Jorgensen; 2020 Olympic Silver and Bronze Medalist, Katie Zaferes; and 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist, Morgan Pearson.
In addition to Gwen, Katie, and Morgan, there have been a number of athletes who went on to qualify for the USA Triathlon National Team: Summer (Cook) Rappaport (Villanova), Taylor Spivey (Cal Poly), Matt McElroy (NAU), Kirsten Kasper (Georgetown), Renée Tomlin (Georgetown), and Chelsea Burns (Colgate).
If there is interest in learning more about how our Talent ID Program works, please email: tommy.zaferes@usatriathlon.org
Triathlon Basics:
-
The Olympics have two events: Individual Race and Mixed Relay.
-
The individual Olympic distance race is made up of a 1.5k swim (.9 mile) / 40k bike (24.8 mile) / 10k run (6.2 mile).
-
The bike is “draft-legal” which means you ride a road bike (not a time trial bike) and athletes are allowed to ride in a group (as opposed to solo)
Women’s Tokyo Olympics Race Recap
Men’s Tokyo Olympics Race Recap
The Mixed Relay is a super-sprint triathlon made up of 2 men and 2 women (the order for Paris 2024 is Male/Female/Male/Female) where each athlete completes a 300m swim / 6k bike (3.7 mile) / 1.6k run (1 mile).
Tokyo Olympics Mixed Relay Recap
Every year there are multiple, and substantial, racing opportunities outside of the Olympic distance and Mixed Relay, and every single race has equal prize money for Men and Women. Race opportunities include:
-
Sprint Distance (750m swim / 20k bike / 5k run)
-
Super Sprint (300m Swim / 7k bike / 2.5k run)* *note, these distances can fluctuate, and also this typically coincides with a Semi-Finals & Finals Format
-
Eliminator (Multiple rounds of Super Sprint Distance where the last athletes are eliminated)
-
Arena Games (Indoor triathlon raced in a pool, and on the virtual game ZWIFT using bike trainers and a treadmill)
Equipment necessary (that our program can provide if athlete qualifies): Triathlon suit, swim cap, goggles, road bike, triathlon bike shoes, helmet, run shoes.