Ancient Histories of the Roots of Triathlon
The history of swimming and running as leisure and war arts go back at least some 10,000 years as evidenced by rock paintings found in the "Cave of the Swimmers" near Wadi Sura in Southwestern Egypt. They are depicted doing the breast stroke and freestyle. Likewise Babylonian bas-reliefs and Assyrian wall paintings show various styles of the breast stroke used at the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_swimming |
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Marathons in Ancient Egypt
Marathon races were quite popular in ancient times also, especially during coronations ceremonies of new kings. Even Pharaohs participated to display their physical strength emphasizing their physical as well as intellectual capabilities. Records even suggest that those born on a same day as the Pharaoh participated in these races and no one was allowed to eat until they had completed 180 stages of his race!
http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/ancsportsp1.htm
http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/ancsportsp1.htm
Swimming in Ancient Egypt
Art from 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt show instructors on the banks of the Nile River giving swimming lessons to the children of noblemen and the king. The soldiers of Ramses II (1292-1225 BCE) are shown in an ancient relief swimming the Orontes River to escape the Hittites. Likewise the Assyrians also practiced swimming, though not as well as the ancient Egyptians and relied on float bags to help them.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23267402.1936.10761757?journalCode=urqe15 |
Running military troops were depicted in ancient Egyptian art by use of overlapping and rhythmic repetition of figures, and were clearly essential for a modern army, even 4,000 years ago.
https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/the-art-of-ancient-egypt.pdf
https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/the-art-of-ancient-egypt.pdf
Ancient Olympics
In Ancient Greece:
According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such "pagan cults" be banned. |
According to legend, it was Heracles who first called the Games "Olympic" and established the custom of holding them every four years. The myth continues that after Heracles completed his twelve labours, he built the Olympic Stadium as an honour to Zeus. Following its completion, he walked in a straight line for 200 steps and called this distance a "stadion" (Greek: στάδιον, Latin: stadium, "stage"), which later became a unit of distance. The most widely accepted inception date for the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC; this is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, listing the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC. The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon (consisting of a jumping event, discus and javelin throws, a foot race, and wrestling), boxing, wrestling, pankration, and equestrian events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Ancient_Olympics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Ancient_Olympics
Anacharsis on Sport and
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Running in Ancient China
In Ancient China
During the Han-dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), which was contemporary with the Hellenistic and Early Imperial age of the Mediterranean, several sports were invented as military exercises. Just like the Greeks, the Chinese had wrestling, a race in armor and chariot races, but, unlike in Greece, the most common sports were ball games. http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC016EN.html ‘The quality of troops lies in speed’ was one of the most important maxims in ancient Chinese art of war. Eminent strategists of all times, from Wu Qi of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Ming Dynasty patriotic general Qi Jiguang (1528-1587), required their men to ‘run light-footedly’ while carrying their weapons and with their coats of mail on. In ancient times, when dukes and princes travelled around in carts, their bodyguards had to run behind them. These bodyguards, called ‘brave warriors,’ were selected through ‘stringent tests’ and enjoyed high esteem. By the Yuan Dynasty (1271- J 1368), a long distance running race was held every year by the ruler inspecting his guards. According to a Yuan Dynasty history book titled Chuo Geng Lu, the race covered a t distance of about 180 Ii (90km) and the winner was awarded a silver disc while the others were given satin of different lengths. This was actually a kind of cross-country race that was held at regular intervals. http://en.olympic.cn/sports_in_ancient_china/2003-11-16/11292.html |
It’s sometimes pretty difficult to figure what is history and what is legend in ancient Chinese tales. In any case the following story about swimming (and philosophy) was written by one of history’s more colorful Taoists, Chuang Zi:
“Confucius was looking at the cataract near the gorge of Lü, which fell a height of 240 cubits, and the spray of which floated a distance of forty lî, (producing a turbulence) in which no tortoise, gavial, fish, or turtle could play. He saw, however, an old man swimming about in it, as if he had sustained some great calamity, and wished to end his life. Confucius made his disciples hasten along the stream to rescue the man; and by the time they had gone several hundred paces, he was walking along singing, with his hair disheveled, and enjoying himself at the foot of the embankment. Confucius followed and asked him, saying, 'I thought you were a sprite; but, when I look closely at you, I see that you are a man. Let me ask if you have any particular way of treading the water.' The man said, 'No, I have no particular way. I began (to learn the art) at the very earliest time; as I grew up, it became my nature to practice it; and my success in it is now as sure as fate. I enter and go down with the water in the very center of its whirl, and come up again with it when it whirls the other way. I follow the way of the water, and do nothing contrary to it of myself; this is how I tread it.’ Confucius said, ‘What do you mean by saying that you began to learn the art at the very earliest time; that as you grew up, it became your nature to practice it, and that your success in it now is as sure as fate?’ The man replied, 'I was born among these hills and lived contented among them; that was why I say that I have trod this water from my earliest time. I grew up by it, and have been happy treading it; that is why I said that to tread it had become natural to me. I know not how I do it, and yet I do it; that is why I say that my success is as sure as fate.' http://nothingistic.org/library/chuangtzu/chuang54.html |
Bicycle Racing - An ultra-brief history
The first documented cycling race was a 1,200 meter race held on May 31, 1868 at the Park of Saint-Cloud, Paris. It was won by expatriate Englishman James Moore who rode a bicycle with solid rubber tires. The first cycle race covering a distance between two cities was Paris–Rouen, also won by James Moore, who rode the 123 kilometres dividing both cities in 10 hours and 40 minutes. The oldest established bicycle racing club in the United States is the St. Louis Cycling Club. Operating continuously since 1887, the club has sponsored races and timed distance events since its inception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cycling |
Modern Triathlon
I recently another short history of triathlon:
"Triathlon is a rather recently evolved sports. Full overview of the history of triathlon embraces France where the first competitions consisting of all three disciplines were held at the beginning of the 20th century; Scandinavia where athletes competed at endurance events at various distances throughout the year; and the United States of America where the first triathlon race took place in 1974. It consisted of 805 m swimming, 8 km biking and 8 km running.
"The very first Ironman triathlon (3.8 km swimming, 180 km biking, 42.2 km running) was held in Hawaii (USA) in 1978. The winner’s time was 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds. Nowadays the ultra distance has become basically a public sports event. More and more ordinary people bring their limits to the test every year, desiring to pass such an imposing distance...." http://www.21cc.ee/history/ |
Modern Triathlon
According to espn.com the following is a rough outline of the modern triathlon:
1920s - In France it was practiced in annual events in Paris.
1975 - The first American triathlon was held at Fiesta Island California
1978 - Gordon Haller won the first Hawaii Triathlon
1981 - Triathlon became popular in Europe
June 12, 1982 - The first U.S. Triathlon Series event was held at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, California.
April 1, 1989 Founding of the International Triathlon Union
August 6, 1989 - 700 triathletes and 40 teams competed in the first triathlon world championships in France
2000 - Triathlon became an official sport at the Olympic Games in Sydney Australia
http://www.espn.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/sport?sport=tr
According to espn.com the following is a rough outline of the modern triathlon:
1920s - In France it was practiced in annual events in Paris.
1975 - The first American triathlon was held at Fiesta Island California
1978 - Gordon Haller won the first Hawaii Triathlon
1981 - Triathlon became popular in Europe
June 12, 1982 - The first U.S. Triathlon Series event was held at Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, California.
April 1, 1989 Founding of the International Triathlon Union
August 6, 1989 - 700 triathletes and 40 teams competed in the first triathlon world championships in France
2000 - Triathlon became an official sport at the Olympic Games in Sydney Australia
http://www.espn.com/oly/summer08/fanguide/sport?sport=tr
Triathlon is a uniquely challenging sport
- Requiring great physical fitness and the hundreds of training hours required to attain that fitness,
- mental focus from beginning to the end of the competition,
- strategic skill to modulate one’s energy output (“pacing”) to last the entire race (and maybe keep a reserve for the famous “sprint to the finish”) and choosing optimal routes (e.g. shortest pathways between turns on the bike route) all along the way of each of the three sports,
- practiced transitions between sports and
- the willpower to continuously push one’s self beyond previous limits.