Triathlon is a newly introduced sport combining three different traditional sports of swimming, bicycle race, and running. According to ex national swimming champion Richard Sambera who has just started his involvement in this new sport, triathlon started to gain its popularity in Indonesia back in 1990, and so far is still yet to be widely known. Competition has been held once in Jakarta, and no other similar events have been reported ever since.

“It is a very unique kind of sport as athlete is challenged to excel in three different sports quickly” says Richard in a press release prior to the 2nd Bali International Triathlon in Jakarta on Monday (Jun 6th). Triathlon athletes have to performed the three different sports consecutively and therefore requires much more stamina.

The International Olympic standard which will be used in the event measures distance to be elapsed includes 1,5 kilometers of free-style swim, 42 kilometers on bicycle, and 10 kilometers run consecutively. Richard also explained that triathlon was firstly introduced in USA back in 1980, inspired by winter sport of dualthlon which includes ice skying and precision shooting. “Obviously athlete of long distance sports wanted a more challenging event to attest their own peak endurance”, added Richard.

Whist they may sounds strange, dualthlon is in fact a very challenging combination. Athletes have to first perform long-distance skying which pump the heart beat up, the immediately afterward have to do precision shooting which naturally requires calmness. Triathlon adopted similar philosophy, part of it on the surface and the rest in the water. Winner qualification is also very straightforward. The one to reach the finish line first wins. Its uniqueness makes triathlon one of the sports with the fastest growing popularity.