The men’s Olympic triathlon will be contested on August 18, while the women will take to Copacabana Beach on August 20.
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Olympic triathlon start list released
“Congratulations to all of the athletes that have worked so hard for so long to make it to the Olympics,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “The men’s and women’s start list reflect deep fields riddled with talent from all over the world. Come August 18 and 20, the word will be inspired and entertained by these 110 men and women.”
A record number of 42 nations have qualified spots for the triathlon at Rio , the highest number ever for triathlon at an Olympic Games. In London 2012, there were 39 nations, with 37 represented in Beijing 2008, 33 in Athens and 34 in Sydney.
These include six that have qualified a spot for the first time in the history of Olympic triathlon including Azerbaijan, Barbados, Israel, Jordan, Norway and Puerto Rico.
Seven nations will see the maximum allowance of three women compete are Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Russia, and the United States.
In the men’s race, eight nations have qualified the maximum of three men including Australia, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the United States.
Start numbers are drawn at random and assigned in groupings to National Olympic Committees, determining where athletes rack their bikes in transition. However, athletes will select their start position based in order of their Olympic rankings at the athlete briefing in Rio. The first ten athletes’ selections will not be revealed until all 55 athletes have chosen their spot.
The GB men’s team (Brownlees and Gordon Benson) are numbered 4,5 & 6 while the women’s team (Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland and Non Stanford) are numbered 14, 15 & 16.
Start numbers 30-39 hold good omens as to who might podium at Rio. So far five gold medals have come from start numbers between 30 and 39. These included Emma Snowsill (34), Brigitte McMahon (35), Kate Allen (39), Jan Frodeno (32) and Alistair Brownlee (30).