Biggest Names?

1. Lucy Charles
2. Jan Frodeno
3. Lionel Sanders
4. Javier Gomez

Best Triathletes?

1. Vincent Luis
2. Jan Frodeno
3. Jelle Geens
4. Sebastian Kienle

I'm just here for when Halvard picks a fight with everyone about his Norwegian posse.

Did Ryf retire or something?

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No, she just does a good job of keeping her private life private and not making herself super brandable.

I know a lot about Lucy and my wife loves her. She is the most brandable loser in the world. Like Anna Kournikova brandable....almost.

Fixed that for you.....

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

In terms of racing success and world-wide popularity/name recognition (in alpha order):
A. Brownlee
Frodeno
Gomez
Ryf

1. Jan
2. Lionel
3. Daniela
4. Alistair

For #4 I could have easily sided for lucy, sebi, or Javi.

I could see how that would cause you to leave her off of your 1st. But seems a bit silly to leave her off your second list of ‘best triathletes.’ She has won 4 IM and 5 70.3 world championships in the past 6 seasons. Yet you have Jelle Geens who has won...what exactly?

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Matt

Daniela Ryf
Jan Frodeno
Vincent Luis
Alistair Brownlee

The win rate of each of those four has been pretty astounding over the past 5 years (albeit Brownlee the a bit further back and Luis more recent)

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Matt

The thing about the original Big 4 was they were great over any distance. Which would greatly reduce the number of modern candidates.

You'd have to take a look at Flora Duffy. She can be injured, take a lot of time off & be right back up front. Flora is my pick for Olympic Gold in 2021.
The question doesn't really pertain to any distance, as the Big Four did it all. We have few today who do all distances at the level the 3 Scotts & Mark did it at.

For women, short course fav is Flora Duffy. Or XTERRA for that matter. We have yet to see an Ironman from her.
Long course, Ryf (then everyone else follows unless she has a super rare melt down like last year. But has been dominant since Wellington retired).

Men...Luis for short course.
Long course, Frodo then everyone else follows. It could be anyone on any day after that. Many coming out of the woodwork with little long course background seem to show up winning right out of the gates.

Men:
1. Vince
2. Alistar
2. Jan (for about 12-18 months)
3. Kristian/Gustav count as one.

Women:
1. Daniela
2. Georgia
3. Lucy
4. Flora

You could very easily have two from each group on a World Champs podium from Sprint to IM. Including Xterra as well.

right now big 4 would be
70.3 world champs south africa male podium and female winner
i dont see how anybody could make a legit case that there is another active athlete that can challenge their title collection and over so many distances over such a long time span in their carreers.

You were undecided about including Alistair Brownlee as your #4 versus the others you left off and yet you've included Lionel at #2?

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Lionel? WTF are you smoking?

As far as a name in the sport, I think he's there. It doesn't mean he's the second best triathlete in the world. That wasn't the question.

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The Big Four were all Ironman World Champions who consistently won all the races that meant anything to anyone and dominated an entire era.They were the pioneers of the sport.Lionel doesn't come close and being a social media celebrity doesn't count compared to the actual results of a stack of athletes racing around the world today.

Man you have drunk deep at the Sanders Kool-Aid well...

if youre going by that "2nd place is the first loser" motto, then sure. however shes a terrific athlete and hardly a loser. this is coming from someone that is NOT a big lucy fan.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Great question...I'd separate into male/female though and I'd use their profile and results as criteria: -

1. J Frodeno
2. V Luis
3. A Brownlee
4. J Gomez

1. D Ryf
2. K Zaferes
3. A Haug
4. L Charles-Barclay

yeah, i think that day doesn't get quite enough credit as a high-water mark in our sport. absolutely insane the racing that went on there, especially on the men's draw.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I do not have a woman in the top 4 best triathletes in the world for a reason. Example Ann Haug came in 30th place overall at Kona 2019. Daniella came in 25th place overall at Kona 2018 and was beat by an age grouper male. Jelle Geens (who I think is racing incredibly well RIGHT NOW) would beat Daniella Ryf head to head, no problem.

I could break things down into groups, Men & Women. Others have done that here. I think that's the right thing to do if we are talking about "best". I put a woman at the top of the list for "Biggest Name" because that title does not have the same requirement.

Short Course Best Triathletes Male/Female right now:

Vincent Luis/Goergia Taylor-Brown

Best 70.3 Best Triathletes Male/Female right now:

Alistair Brownlee/Holly Lawrence

Ironman Best Triathletes Male/Female right now:

Jan Frodeno/Daniela Ryf


Picking Brownlee for 70.3 is a pure guess based on his breadth of training from short course to long course and his results at all of those levels. I was temped to pick someone like Rudy Von Berg who is specializing in 70.3.

Sorry, but the thread title asks for biggest names not the best. Lionel is on the list.

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Fucking sad state of affairs if the best athletes get overlooked for those who have a bigger media profile..That says a lot about society today but I guess that is why so many age group coaching/media gurus get more respect than the pro's who actually win races.

I don’t necessarily disagree. If you are so saddened by the premise of thread, start a new one entitled the best or fastest 4 triathletes. The most well-known players or franchises aren’t always the best.

Lionel is only a household name on ST. No way he's in the big 4 worldwide.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.