Yeah I heard about Hampton U.

---

"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

There is very little diversity in Triathlon. Anyone who tries to suggest otherwise is delusional. I'm Asian, living in Toronto - arguably the most diverse city in the world - and practically all my triathlon friends and the triathlon community at large are white.

There are two reasons:

1) Cultural factors - triathlon (like fishing, golf, cottages, hockey) is traditionally a "white person" thing.
2) Economic factors - it's expensive and thus limited to those who are wealthier. In North America, the wealth is more concentrated among Caucasians.

In order to survive, triathlon needs to appeal to more young people and a broader demographic (culturally, economically, etc). In its current form it simply won't survive and once all the old timers retire it will eventually dwindle and die, much like the number of local races folding each year.

Triathlon is a very fringe sport. Is there alot of diversity in bowling? I don't know.

---

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I see very little at local races. But a highlighted reason for that is I would say, at least in New England... that both cycling and swimming are Disproportionately caucasian as far as participation goes.

I’m in the minority is in I went strait into triathlon and was never a swimmer, cyclist, or runner before. But it only stands to reason if you want more diversity start by broadening your talent pool. Get more diversity in the base sports and it will trickle down.

---

I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I am not sure what the problem is that we are supposed to fix. Do people worry about men being underrepresented in scrapbooking and book clubs. Do people worry about white males being underrepresented in pro baseball. I went to a game the other day and half the players were from DR or some other Latin American country. Did I leave worried? No I was thinking like wow Latin Americans like baseball and they are good at it. Or see it as an opportunity and are taking advantage of it. Good for them.

If we had every sphere of life with equal representation from different ethic groups in the community you know what we would have. I lack of diversity.

I don't travel to Nepal to experience white culture I go to experience at least something Nepalese.

---

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Do people worry about white males being underrepresented in pro baseball. I went to a game the other day and half the players were from DR or some other Latin American country. Did I leave worried?

----

It's not the white males that are being lost in baseball- it's actually African Americans that are as you noted being replaced more and more by the Central American players. If you read their stories of how they come into baseball, it's kinda crazy. Like 9, 10 year olds playing with ragged gloves and using rocks as "balls". And there's this whole business of taking 12-14 year olds Central American kids and taking them out of school and putting them into essentially 8 hr baseball full time factories. They usually get signed around 16-18 years of age.

But yes the % of American Americans is noted and a concern by baseball insiders for what it's worth. But I think many see the cultural shift from baseball to basketball for that demographic over the last 20-25 years.

NBA basketball has taken a huge shift in the past 30+ years, hell in the early 80's they didn't even broadcast the NBA finals live. MJ basically created this monster of an industry.

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

There’s really nothing easy about triathlon.

Just getting basic equipment is going to be an “buy in” that is very high bar compared to many sports even vs other endurance sports.

Then there’s really no way you can just “do” a triathlon. You need some basic competence in SBR just to get to finish line whereas the 5k w your co workers you can just show up and walk the damn thing if you want. But most people can’t just show up and swim 250yds without some form of basic endurance ability.

It’s such a “niche” sport that there’s basically no cool factor with it. Add in the fact that honestly what the young kids find as fun tri formats the old guard triathletes hate and think it’s not “real” triathlon.

Today was USAT’s junior elite and youth nationals and while low on minority numbers it’s rising in numbers each year. 1k kids ranging from $5k bikes w Zipp wheels for 10 year old to bikes with streamers. Mostly white kids but def growing minorities and I don’t think it’s much cared who you are.

US’s lone JE male representative at itu world’s in a few weeks will be a kid of non-white ethnicity- Luis Ortiz

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

So diversity only refers to certain skin tones? Other nationalities doesn’t count?

I see a Black Triathlete every time I train / race or just look in the mirror.
Just like anything some things take time. There are resource bgroups like Black Triathlete's group on Facebook.

---

2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

Here's the finisher line video coverage from IM Ohio 70.3 https://www.ironman.com/...y=2019#axzz5vlmPFuaM

I watched a couple hundred athletes cross the line, every single one of them looks White.
Spectators also look to be at least 99% White.

Triathlon (IRONMAN anyway) might be the Whitest sport of all time.

Agree... triathlon should be equal opportunity, all be it a little $$ and it is AFAIK. I have some darker skinned family and friends... none of them want to do a triathlon. That would aslo describe most of my friends in general... little to few people want to do a triathlon outside of friends I've made through racing.

If diversity only means black, then I see a small number all the time. If diversity equals "people of color" then South Florida has a hugely diverse triathlon population, i.e., Hispanic athletes are everywhere. From where I sit, triathlon is incredibly diverse.

Can we, for a minute, unpack "Diversity?" I'm assuming that you are talking about non-whites and women, correct? If we are looking at a diverse cohort, do we consider age as well?
So, are we looking at Participants, Coaches, Governing Bodies, Event Directors, Vendors?

---

Karen ST Concierge

The quick answer to your question is, No, triathlon is not vert diverse generally.

However, I do see glimpses of the possibilities at certain races that I'm working at as Race Announcer. Both in Toronto, both short races. Many trying triathlon for a first time.

Full disclosure, is that Toronto is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world! That helps.

The two races are - The Toronto Triathlon festival and Multisport Canada's Toronto Island Triathlon.

In both races, a noticeable number of the participants do come from various ethnic groups that have large populations in Toronto.

As I mentioned this is a great thing. For many, this is their first exposure to anything like this. I know that with my work on the microphone with the support of both of these great clients, we try to make it a great experience for everyone. Great and memorable race experiences is what will bring them back!

---

---

Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

You watched a race in OHIO, where 80% of the population is white/non-Hispanic. If you add in white Hispanic in there, the crowd would look even more white. That's why it looks like an all white sport to you.

I did Ironman Korea last year ... don't recall seeing too many white faces out there. I talked to a race bike mechanic while over there. He said (I forgot the number), but there are something like 20+ different triathlon clubs in Seoul alone.

I rode with a local tri club in the Philippines earlier this year. They had a bunch of folks training for Ironman races in Europe and Australia. I didn't see one white face in the group. The Philippines sent 120+ athletes to Ironman Korea 2 years ago.

Some triathlon group/club in China sent more than 100 athletes to Ironman Estonia this year. And, they weren't the only Asians racing there.

Ironman or triathlon might be stagnant in America, but it's exploding over in Asia ... where a lot of non-whites live :)

---

__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Last week. The “arguments” really don’t make much sense to me. I don’t see inclusive as being something to debate. Let’s reach out and welcome communities who previously haven’t had a big presence. It can only help ALL of us

---

David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Diverse range of comments in this thread. Hopefully USTA will do another article on diversity in triathlon by next February. Quoting one of the articles linked to in the first post: "To join this celebration of racial diversity and open a conversation on the subject, USA Triathlon interviewed several athlete-leaders who are making an impact in the multisport community."

Let's revisit this topic next February-March if not sooner.

To respond summarily to those who asked me questions: I noticed at a recent Ironman event in California that there was only ONE Black athlete (male) and zero female Black athletes. Wow, that's surprising! Then I remembered the USTA article, which states a desire to "open a conversation on the subject." We know from the responses above that some people would rather not have this conversation.

According to the responses in this thread, Ironman only employs around 3 female Race Directors in the USA, and every Race Director is White It doesn't seem that promoting diversity is part of their plan. The lack of diversity is also apparent when you look at the podium, 99% White.

Before we dive into Ironman corp bashing further, can I ask you a few questions

1. Do you direct races?
2. How many races did you do before you directed your first race?
3. What motivated you to direct your first race?
4. Did someone pay you to direct your first race?
5. Or did you invest your own money to develop your own race and do a startup?

Once you have answered all these questions we can have a logical discussion about Ironman's race director employees. To get to the point where Ironman or any corporation hires you, you need to develop a race director's resume. I want to know how you developed your own. If you have not developed your own, I want you to go and talk to race directors who currently direct races, preferably non Mdot and ask them how they became race directors.

No one sits around in university or college thinking they will direct triathlon races as a career path. That number is nearly ZERO unless they also happen to be an athlete....

Once we go through all of this we can discuss why there are so few black race directors and so few women race directors. I was directing races in 1990. I'm not black, but I'm not white and I am not a women. But I was an athlete first.

Was up in Traverse City, one of the least Diverse places I've ever been (skin color). But you've got plenty of diversity of experience within that community still with mansions and trailer parks.

Now, for racers? Considering that I'm a minority, and it seems that diversity only counts if they're of one color based on actions of many people and posts in this thread. I saw plenty of black guys racing. What I didn't see were many black women.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Hey there, nope I don't need to answer all of your questions. I am neither "bashing Ironman" by pointing out that 100% of Race Directors in USA are White, whereby the vast majority are White men. I think we identified a total of three female RDs (all White).

Your statements in this thread do not deny these facts.

Yeah, but asking how many none white race directors there are in the USA is like asking how many none Indian heads there are of each of the state or national Cricket boards in that country. The answer is zero because there are almost no white guys playing Cricket in India unless they are superstar players making millions in the premier league who may have Aussies or Kiwis or South Africans.

No one becomes a race director in this sport unless the actually do the sport. The economics suck so badly that you have to be a complete idiot to put your time into organizing races if you care about money. The only reason many of us has organized races is we love it.

I am not trying to deny facts about which minorities are not part of triathlon. Honestly I don't actually care about making any accommodations for minorties. Either love it and make yourself a way to do it, or go do something else. Many minorities give themselves excuses about why they don't want to do sport (black men and women are not the only minority...there are plenty of other minorities) . Many non black minorities around the world have plenty of resources to do sport, but they choose to do other things and that's totally OK. We don't have to walk around worrying about convincing them to do our sport if they want to do ping pong or cricket or geek out on physic text books of do corporate ladder climbing rather than do sport.

Oh on the Mdot Race director stats, Deepak Raj is not a white guy. But he has finished something like 20ish IM's including Kona and is the organizer of Ironman 70.3 Goa that instantly sold out (and its sold out filled with a ton of mainly brown guys and girls)

IRONMAN Hall of Fame: https://www.ironman.com/...e.aspx#axzz5yKm7emfv

~50 faces, 100% of them look White. There is something peculiarly White about IRONMAN.

so.

Who gives a shit. Instead of some self-loathing on the internet, why don't you go become a race director?

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

You could say the same about skiing. Darnnit...just why aren't more Central Africans taking up the sport!
SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!