I’m just curious. Looking on TV and in magazines, I’d guess the following:
Natasha Badman 5’5" ish (she looks tiny)
Lori Bowden 5’7" ish
Tim DeBoom 5’10" ish
Peter Reid 6’2" ish (he looks tall)
Am I even close? How about the others?
I don’t know about those ones but a quick google gives the following:
Lisa Bentley 5’4"
Cam Brown 5’10"
Tony DeBoom 6’1/2"
.
It varies quite a bit - on the upper end you have Lessing and Kemper at around 6’4". On the lower end there are quite a few guys just above 5’6" that are/were pretty tough - Welch, Riccitello, Spencer Smith. So I would say that height makes little difference so long as one is in the “normal” range.
Most of the “legends” - Scott, Allen, Van Lierde, etc. - are right around 6’.
You’re pretty close on Natasha and Lori.
Larsen, Stadler, Lieto, Mark Allen, Dave Scott and Jurgen are all around 6’ (give or take an inch either way)
Hellreigel and Macca are about 5’9"
Shingo Tani is about 5’6"
The above are guestimates, knowing I am 5’7"
Most of the women are pretty small, except Wendy I., who is about 5’11". Natasha, Lori and Fernanda are very tiny. For comparison, go here: http://www.xtri.com/2003/11/LoriBowden.jpg. I am a Clydesdale gal, and my two friends are “normal” front to mid-pack age group triathletes. Or here: http://www.xtri.com/2003/11/NatashaBadmann.jpg
Some vague generalizations and observations:
Most of the successful long course men are 6’ ± 2", and most of the shourt course guys are significantly shorter (like in the 5’ 9" ± 2" ballpark), kinda like horse jockeys. (sarcasm) There are many exceptions to this generalization, but I think the bulk of the bell curve falls into these ranges.
I have met Tim DeBoom and would say that he is 5 8 or 5 9.
This is me with Lori and Tim after Blackwater Eagleman. I’m just shy of 5’11".
Cool pic! I guess your not an anonymous internet fat guy or wanna be triathlete. 
That’s a cool picture
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Lori is no taller than NAtasha, and if I had to place a bet, I’d say that she’s shorter. She is one small girl.
Timmy is about 5’11", maybe 6’. Peter Reid is at least 6’2", possibly 6’4".
I’m just about 5’11" I used to be 6’1.5"-6’2". All of the running and riding has shrunk me. Now I’m a shade under 5’11". Anyone else experience shrinking with endurance training?
Thanks. I was just hanging out in the food tent with my friends when Lori and Tim came up to get a drink. They stopped for a minute, so I gave my camera to a friend and asked them if I could get a picture. They were very nice and didn’t seem to mind.
I noticed the pro’s and top level AG at IMFL had similar builds. As I was a volunteer in the change tent. From my view point they pretty much all (their were obvious exceptions) had one of two body types.
They were either tall 5’11"–6’2" with super lean physiques and long thigh’s (femur) or they appeared to be long, overdeveloped hip flexors with big long quads, gave the appearance of long thighs.
The other type of build was short, 5’6"–5’10" and very muscular, almost bodybuilder like but cut-up not bloated,water filled muscles. Their legs were obviously shorter but very thick quads.
My wife and I had commented how you could basically put them into those two groups.
The women I didnt get to see much of except out on the run course. But I did notice that Wendy I.seemed tall and Bela C. seemed tiny.
It was cool to see them all run. They are almost all good runners and the form on most is alot different than watching you local ham & egger 5k run/walk. Some seem to slip along the earth without hardly touching. I did get to experience first hand how fast they are moving, as the next day we had to do our long run so we decided to get up and run along the run course. We were on our way back to the finish line and I began to sense someone slipping up on my starboard side. I then saw the shadow come up and I looked over to see who had silently snuck up on us and it was a real tall pro and he went by us like we were stopped! All you could see was the bottom of his feet as he had that tell-tale high swinging recovery and Fast turnover. He was about 6’3" and he was covering some ground !! I wanted to ask him if he had raced the day before but he was gone too fast. Not a very exciting story for those of you who train with these folks but it was cool for us because we never get to see them except on tv.
“They were either tall 5’11”–6’2" with super lean physiques and long thigh’s (femur) or they appeared to be long, overdeveloped hip flexors with big long quads, gave the appearance of long thighs.
The other type of build was short, 5’6"–5’10" and very muscular, almost bodybuilder like but cut-up not bloated,water filled muscles. Their legs were obviously shorter but very thick quads."
So does that mean only 1" difference between short and tall? A lot of ‘normal’ people must be 5’10 1/2" then!
Just commenting on how I saw it, I had to draw the line somewhere. If this is an emotional issue for you I’m very sorry.
Let’s see that shot of you with Jared.
Cullen
Just found it amusing that’s all.
Almost all of the top pro women are very small. Lori and Natascha are both 5’4" or less and weigh about 110 lbs. Sian Welch is the same and Heather Fuhr is not much bigger. Nina Kraft and Joana Lawn are about 5’6" but no giants. Even Ute Mueckel is no taller than 5’5" when I think about talking with her face-to-face. When you see the bikes in the transition area you realize how small those ladies are. How they get the horsepower to make those bikes go so fast is a mystery to me.
The concensus on the men has been fairly accurate: a good chunk of them are around 6’0" and a lean 160-180 lbs. Prototypes include Peter Reid, Alex Taubert, Francois Chabaud, Mika Luoto, Cam Widoff, Luke Bell, Rene Rovera, Lothar Leder and Oliver Bernard. Yes, there are exceptions like Olaf Sabatschus and Peter Kropko. The note on the long femur is a very interesting observation as it’s a documented fact that most top pro cyclists are unusually long femurs (more leverage power).
I met Paula Newby 3 times this year and my guess is that she is either 5’5" or 5’6". Very low body fat, again my guess would be <10%. I think low body fat is the common theme I’ve noticed among the top triathletes.