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Home > Forum > Triathlon Forum > Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports

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Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports
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dasOlind
Nov 21, 17 20:36
Post #1 of 54 (5420 views)
Does anyone know where triathlon falls among other sports such as football, golf, MMA, surfing, auto racing, skiing, etc. ?

In my head triathlon seems like a main stream sport because my social media feeds are connected to a lot of tri pages & I am more in the loop on tri than on most mainstream sports. So this made me wonder about what are other people’s insights/thoughts/perspectives on this? Most of my coworkers don’t even know what 3 events a triathlon consists of but they can rattle off tons of knowledge about football, golf, car racing, etc. I understand there is no end all answer to this question rather just more of a topic for discussion.

Thanks!
Johannes
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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Yutaka Sonik
Nov 21, 17 20:49
Post #2 of 54 (5401 views)
Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson were almost triatheletes....is that what you’re talking about?
Last edited by: Testament TN: Nov 21, 17 20:51
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [Testament TN] [ In reply to ]
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dasOlind
Nov 21, 17 21:46
Post #3 of 54 (5365 views)
I don’t really know what you’re talking about so I don’t know if that’s what I’m talking about.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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bloodyshogun
Nov 21, 17 22:48
Post #4 of 54 (5322 views)
Not sure what you mean? for example. how would you answer. where does running fall among other sports such as football, etc....
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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Ai_1
Nov 21, 17 23:12
Post #5 of 54 (5300 views)
dasOlind wrote:
I don’t really know what you’re talking about so I don’t know if that’s what I’m talking about.
Is it possible you don't quite know what you're talking about yourself and therefore no-one else does either?
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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Jorgan
Nov 22, 17 1:49
Post #6 of 54 (5241 views)
Social media is basically an echo chamber, assuming you run your account as a personal one with actual friends. So based on that, yes it will have a lot of posts on shared hobbies like Triathlon, and no it doesn't mean Triathlon is as big-a-deal as your Facebook feed suggests.
29 years and counting
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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cloy
Nov 22, 17 2:35
Post #7 of 54 (5218 views)
Pretty sure the common perception of triathlon follows two paths:

(1) An olympic event that comes up every four years and the general public wonders how these strange, incredibly fit individual began in such a peculiar sport (i.e., "who in the hell begins competing in decathlon?"); or

(2) an Ironman bucket list achievement. This crowd, I believe, doesn't really grasp the fact that there are people who race triathlons consistently rather than training "when they can fit it in" with a goal of finishing an ironman rather than training 2 and 3 times daily to peak for races trhoughout the season.

Generally, (2) is much more common in my experience.
@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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logella
Nov 22, 17 2:57
Post #8 of 54 (5197 views)
Only triathletes think triathlon is any any way athletically or culturally relevant.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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KG6
Nov 22, 17 3:06
Post #9 of 54 (5188 views)
Triathlon as like a spectator type sport falls roughly around marathon running or something. Those not involved rarely realize the event is happening unless it cuts off traffic to the road they need. And they only know about major events like Boston or when it comes on in the Olympics every few years (and even then, they don't watch unless nothing else is on).
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [cloy] [ In reply to ]
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Jorgan
Nov 22, 17 3:11
Post #10 of 54 (5184 views)
cloy wrote:
(2) an Ironman bucket list achievement. This crowd, I believe, doesn't really grasp the fact that there are people who race triathlons consistently rather than training "when they can fit it in" with a goal of finishing an ironman rather than training 2 and 3 times daily to peak for races trhoughout the season.

Or fail to realise the absence of that red tattoo or living in Ironman merchandise, doesn't mean you are yet to do an Ironman.
29 years and counting
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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natethomas
Nov 22, 17 3:34
Post #11 of 54 (5157 views)
Bowling and darts are probably way more popular than triathlon - not quite as much athleticism involved, though. Triathlon is extremely niche compared to general sports.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii
Nov 22, 17 3:37
Post #12 of 54 (5149 views)
In terms of awareness, participation, popularity, revenue, etc., it is probably something like this...
  1. Soccer
  2. Cricket
  3. NASCAR
  4. Football
  5. Golf
  6. Baseball
  7. Basketball
  8. Hockey
  9. Formula 1
  10. Bowling
  11. Tennis
  12. Skiing
  13. Lacrosse
  14. Track and Field
  15. Swimming
  16. Cross Country
  17. Gymnastics
  18. Motorcycle Racing
  19. Bicycling
  20. Kayaking
  21. Rowing
  22. Archery
  23. Cheer leading
  24. Triathlon

Last edited by: exxxviii: Nov 22, 17 4:07
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Jorgan
Nov 22, 17 3:41
Post #13 of 54 (5141 views)
Is that list ^^ awareness in the US? Because I'm pretty sure no-one gives a toss about NASCAR anywhere else ;-)
29 years and counting
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [Jorgan] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii
Nov 22, 17 3:45
Post #14 of 54 (5136 views)
The list is a joke. I made it up. I put cheer leading is one slot above Triathlon. I did not research that. My purpose in creating the list was to illustrate two points: 1- that there are a lot of sports out there, and 2- that when you see all the sports, you are likely to rank triathlon closer to the bottom than the top.

I did realize that I forgot Cricket and Bowling. I will add those in with Cricket at #2.
Last edited by: exxxviii: Nov 22, 17 4:07
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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dasOlind
Nov 22, 17 5:17
Post #15 of 54 (5058 views)
See this is what I was musing too, triathlon is such a non-mainstream “niche” sport (or just “exercising” to some people) yet it seems quite consuming like it’s on par with FIFA or something (clearly it’s not). So when you hear stories about people losing their job or marriage over triathlon (usually ironman) it really makes you wonder...
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Chri55
Nov 22, 17 5:35
Post #16 of 54 (5018 views)
exxxviii wrote:
In terms of awareness, participation, popularity, revenue, etc., it is probably something like this...
  1. Soccer
  2. Cricket
  3. NASCAR
  4. Football
  5. Golf
  6. Baseball
  7. Basketball
  8. Hockey
  9. Formula 1
  10. Bowling
  11. Tennis
  12. Skiing
  13. Lacrosse
  14. Track and Field
  15. Swimming
  16. Cross Country
  17. Gymnastics
  18. Motorcycle Racing
  19. Bicycling
  20. Kayaking
  21. Rowing
  22. Archery
  23. Cheer leading
  24. Triathlon

This is somewhat accurate, just substitute Nascar for something like Rally racing for non North American countries (maybe move it down on the list) and add around ten other sports you probably never heard of after 23 and that is probably where it ranks.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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SLOgoing
Nov 22, 17 5:42
Post #17 of 54 (4996 views)
You've missed a sport. I added it for you. And I guess Water Polo didn't make the list because nobody understand why they blow the whistle so damn much, which makes it after triathlon.


exxxviii wrote:
In terms of awareness, participation, popularity, revenue, etc., it is probably something like this...
  1. Soccer
  2. Cricket
  3. NASCAR
  4. Football
  5. Golf
  6. Baseball
  7. Basketball
  8. Hockey
  9. Formula 1
  10. Bowling
  11. Tennis
  12. Skiing
  13. Poker
  14. Lacrosse
  15. Track and Field
  16. Swimming
  17. Cross Country
  18. Gymnastics
  19. Motorcycle Racing
  20. Bicycling
  21. Kayaking
  22. Rowing
  23. Archery
  24. Cheer leading
  25. Triathlon
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [dasOlind] [ In reply to ]
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DFW_Tri
Nov 22, 17 5:45
Post #18 of 54 (4984 views)
Not a blip on the radar in the US
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [SLOgoing] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii
Nov 22, 17 5:47
Post #19 of 54 (4981 views)
Haha... I forgot Poker is a sport.

And I put NASCAR #2 because I truly do not understand that. I have read anecdotes that it is more popular in the US than (American) Football. However, just doesn't make sense to me. I think NASCAR is horrible. But, people love it. And, I love the movie Talladega Nights-- we would not have Ricky Bobby without NASCAR, so there is that.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [Chri55] [ In reply to ]
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dasOlind
Nov 22, 17 5:48
Post #20 of 54 (4977 views)
One unique aspect of Tri that very few other sports seem to replicate is the competition among adult amateurs, in most sports the amateurs are kids/juniors & many just have their parents living vicariously through them and/or at the pro/adult level if it’s a mainstream sport is people just following the pros because they have no life. Tri seems uniquely outside this mold, maybe only running, surfing, and some others (I don’t know what others) replicate it.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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IamSpartacus
Nov 22, 17 5:51
Post #21 of 54 (4968 views)
I'm suprised you US folk know what cricket is.

Surely foxy-boxing has gotta be up there
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [coates_hbk] [ In reply to ]
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Tom_hampton
Nov 22, 17 6:05
Post #22 of 54 (4942 views)
The only thing I know about cricket is that it is just as boring as baseball.
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax
Nov 22, 17 6:07
Post #23 of 54 (4936 views)
Tom_hampton wrote:
The only thing I know about cricket is that it is just as boring as baseball.

Oh no you didn't....


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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Tom_hampton
Nov 22, 17 6:08
Post #24 of 54 (4935 views)
Don't forget Curling!
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Re: Where Does Triathlon Fall Among Sports [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Jorgan
Nov 22, 17 6:25
Post #25 of 54 (4913 views)
Good call, Cricket is way more manly than NASCAR; so tough in fact, they have to stop for meals.
29 years and counting
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