30 Moments That Mattered

8/13/2019 30 Moments That Mattered

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78 TRIATHLETE MAY 2013

1984 Jim Curland Carl Thomas

introduce wave

starts at the

USTS season

opener event

in Tampa, Fla.,

facilitating larger

age-group ields

and increased

athlete safety. At

the same race

they formalizethe distance

now known as

Olympic: 1.5K

swim, 40K bike

and 10K run.

1986 Prize moneyis introducedin Kona, driven

by Dave Scott

and Mark Allens

boycott of the

1985 race. Steve

Drogan, a inancier

from San Diego,

anonymously

posts a $100,000

prize purse, an

important step

toward helping

pro triathletesearn a living from

the sport. Scott

and Allen return,

inishing irst and

second.

1988 SRM invents the irst power meter.While still a niche product category today,

the power meter gains popularity and

acceptance each year, enabling triathletes

to obsess more than ever about their

performance milestones.

1985 Richard Byrne invents the irsttriathlon bike, the Sceptor, notable forits steep seat tube angle to facilitate an

aero position. Nineteen years after the

Sceptors appearance, the Cervlo P3

Carbon becomes the blueprint on which

nearly every tri bike is now based.

1987 DanEmpield invents

the Quintana

Roo wetsuit,

the irst wetsuit

speciically

designed for

swimming.

Empields

revelation is that

swimming in a

neoprene suit is

not just warmer,

but also fasterthan without

one. Newbies

and open-water-

phobic triathletes

rejoice.

1988 Paula Newby-Fraser clocks 9:01:01in Kona, knocking 35 minutes off the

previous course record and inishing 11th

overallthe highest placing for a woman

since the event grew to more than a few

hundred participants. No woman has

inished higher since.

1989 The Scott DH aerobar is popularized at the Tour de France whenGreg LeMond overcomes a 50-second deicit to win the inal time-trial

stage and the yellow jersey. Triathletes, howevereager adopters of

new technologyhad been riding the bars as early as 1987.

1989 Dave Scott andMark Allen race shoulder

to shoulder for eight

hours in Kona in what

is now revered as Iron

War. Both men ultimately

inish their pro careers

with six Ironman WorldChampionship wins each;

the 1989 race is Allens

irst Kona win, and he

beats his nemesis by 58

seconds on Scotts best

ever day on the Big Island.

1989 Below-the-knee amputee Jim MacLaren runs a 3:16marathon to inish Kona in 10:42. Four years later MacLaren is hit

by a van while cycling during a race, becoming a quadriplegic.

A fundraising event to help him purchase an adapted vehicle

leads to the creation of the San Diego Triathlon Challenge and the

Challenged Athletes Foundation.

1990 NBC takes over the telecast ofIronman from ABC. Director/producer Lisa

Lax works to create Emmy Award-winning

coverage, showcasing not only the pros

but also the age-grouper stories of human

courage and perseverance that deine the

sport. The show becomes an annual must-

watch for triathletes and non-triathletes

alike. Ive covered Olympics, Super Bowls,

etc., and nothing compares, says Lax.

1990 The Danskin Womens OnlyTriathlon Series launches in three cities

(Long Beach, San Jose and New York),

spurring a groundswell of womens

participation in the sport. Greg Rorke,

then-president of Danskin, says he sought

to target what women were doing in

the late 80smore active pursuits like

running, climbing and triathlon.

Newby-Frasers

record eight Kona

victories still

stand as the most

by any athlete,

male or female.

LOISSCHWARTZ;NILSNILSEN;RICHCRUSE


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80 TRIATHLETE MAY 2013

1991 Mike Reillyirst utters thephrase, You are

an Ironman! Its

merely an inspired

shout-out to an

acquaintance

who doubted he

would inish, yet

the crowd reaction

and subsequent

inishers

emotional faces

demand that

Reilly continues

the Ironmancallan honor hes

since bestowed

on an estimated

250,000 athletes

worldwide.

2001 TheChallenge

Family event

series is born

when Herbert

Walchshfer

takes the helm of

Ironman Europe.

Walchshfer

terminates his

contract with the

World Triathlon

Corporation,

instead re-creatingthe race as

Challenge Roth,

where iron-

distance world

records are made.

1996 The XTERRA series (then known as Aquaterra) debuts,taking triathlon off-road. The fun and funky irst-year eventfull

of big-name triathlon and mountain bike pros, and even more

memorable for post-race naked touch football and late-night

bar-top dancinggrows into a lifestyle sport with more than 300

events in 18 countries.

2005 Stricken by Lou Gehrigs disease, Jon Blais fulills a lifelongdream and inishes Kona in 16:28:56. His accomplishment leads

to the creation of the Blazeman Foundation for ALS and the

immortalization of his inish-line log roll, practiced by countless

age-group athletes as well as pros like Ironman world champions

Chrissie Wellington and Leanda Cave.

1997 JohnMacLean

becomes the

irst wheelchair

athlete to inish

Kona within all

the able-bodied

cutoff times.

MacLean goes

on to swim the

English Channel,

complete the

Molokai Ocean

Challenge,

compete in the

Olympics (2000)

and Paralympics(2000 and 2008,

winning silver in

adaptive rowing)

and create the

John MacLean

Foundation,

helping Australias

wheelchair-bound

youth.

1994 Greg Welch becomes the irstnon-American male to win Konathe

same year that Dave Scott notably scores

second at the age of 40. In 2000, Welch is

forced into sudden retirement due to heart

health issues (and faces more than 60

hours of surgery).

2005 Sarah Reinertsenbecomes the irst female

above-the-knee amputee

to complete Kona in

15:05:12, after a failed

attempt in 2004 when she

missed the bike cutoff by

merely 15 minutes. Her

determination to complete

her uninished business

and her bright and bubbly

spirit make her an icon of

sporting inspiration.

1996 Belgian Luc Van Lierde, competing in his irst Ironman andrunning his irst ever marathon, breaks the Kona course record in8:04:08 (including a three-minute penalty pit stop). The next year

he also breaks the iron-distance world record, going 7:50:27 at

Challenge Roth.

2005 Robert McKeague becomes the irst octogenarian to inishKona, going 16:21:55 and sprinting the inal stretch to the inish,

proving that triathlon truly is a sport for all ages.Lew Hollander

later beats 80-year-old McKeagues record as the oldest male

inisher, crossing the line in Kona in 16:45:52 in 2012 at age 82.

2000 TriathlonsOlympic coming-

out party at the

2000 Sydney

Summer Games

gets rave reviews.

Simon Whitield

scores the

mens gold for

Canada, while

Switzerlands

Brigitte McMahon

pips Australias

sweetheartMichellie Jones at

the line and the

pair of women

inish irst and

second.

Van Lierde's time

has only been bettered

twice since (Andreas

Raelerts 7:41:33 at

Roth 2011 and Marino

Vanhoenackers

7:45:59 at IronmanAustria 2011).

LOISSCHWARTZ(X2);RICHCRUSE


4/482 TRIATHLETE MAY 2013

2012

2007 The NewtonDistancia shoe

debuts at Ironman

70.3 California,

providing a

seminal moment

in the shift from

the block-heeled

running shoes of

the 90s to the

trend in natural

running footwear.Newtons front-lug

design aims to

keep forefoot

strikers on their

toes.

2011 Australian Craig Alexander becomes the irst man toclaim both Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championship

titles in the same year, crushing his competitors on the new

Ironman 70.3 championship course in Las Vegas and then

successfully vying for his third Kona victory. Brit Leanda Cave

follows suit on the womens side in 2012.

2009 Chrissie Wellington slashes Paula Newby-Frasers17-year-old Kona course record, winning her third Ironman

world title in 8:54:02.

2012 SisterMadonna Buder,

a Roman Catholic

nun from Seattle,

becomes the

oldest woman

to inish an

Ironman at age 82,

crossing the line at

Ironman Canada

in 16:32:00.

Buders triathlon

career, which

began at age 52

and blossomed

to Ironman when

she turned 55,includes more

than 35 Ironman

inishes, many in

Hawaii.

Wellington goes

on to log a collection of

record-shattering moments,

including back-to-back world

records at the iron distance at

Challenge Roth (8:19:32 in 2010

and 8:18:13 in 2011, inishing

seventh and ifth overall,

respectively).

NILSNILSEN;RICHCRUSE

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30 Moments That Mattered