The vanilla sea that is triathlon

Triathlon Forum
1

Time to stir the pot again. I’m at the starting line at Steelhead, in the 25-29 wave, and I notice that everyone I could see in my wave is white. As was the wave before. And the one after. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a person who wasn’t white doing a triathlon. This is certainly odd to me. Triathlon certainly seems a friendly sport. So why so little ethnic or racial minority participation? Is it socioeconomics? Disinterest? Lack of glamor? Perceived exclusivity (my tongue will remain buried in cheek for that last one)?

While I’m sure the more clever of us are no doubt scrambling to come up with exceptions right now, let’s try to stay on topic. I thought we could straw poll on whether this is, indeed, the norm in people’s experiences. I, for one, want to know if Ironman Malaysia and Ironman China are indeed filled predominantly with Asians. Anyone know? And lastly, should growing minority interest in triathlon be a priority?

Noah
www.chimpalliance.com
www.exerscience.blogspot.com

2

They are mostly Americans who are on a trip.

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**“IM Korea – On Sunday, 1,152 competitors are set to take to the start line in conditions that could range anywhere from brilliantly fine to monsoonal … take your pick. **Twenty-five countries are represented, Korea obviously taking the honors with 887, neighboring Japan next with 175, with the United States and Australia next with just over 20 each.”


That's directly off of Ironman.com. 

C'mon! 

KP
4

I tried to talk a black friend of mine into entering a triathlon. He just retired from the NFL, runs a decent 5k time and has a sweet ass Scott CR1 that he never rides, so it was not a stretch for him to give it a shot. His line to me was classic: “no, we’ll let you have that sport. We already kick your ass at football, basketball and even golf. Hell, even the Kenyans outrun your ass. Why should we mess with that crazy triathlon shit?”

5

To quote Stephen Colbert:

“I don’t see color; I don’t understand what ‘race’ is. Hey, we all cross the finish line- I say we all get hugs.”

6

Hey,

That’s a great question, one I’m sure nearly all of us have asked ourselves before. Whatever the answer (and I’d be interested as to what people have to say), it’d be cool to see more programs reaching out to help people get involved in the sport - be it minorities, low-income people, or even college kids. There’s a lot to learn from this sport, and it would be great to extend the opportunity to as many as possible.

-Brian

7

I live in Los Angeles and see every race and religion – maybe it’s the part of the country you live in ?? I am Japanese American.

8

Local tris here in New Zealand are also predominantly white.

There are a few Pacific Islanders, ie , Maoris, Samoans and Tongans, but they are generally local, not actually flown in from the islands for the race.

I think it is predominantly a socio-economic thing, not an exclusivity or racisist thing, since I think most of us ARE pretty friendly by and large. I should point out that the only other OCD trigeek in my office happens to be Malaysian Chinese, but born and bred here in NZ. (he can’t swim worth a damn)

For IMNZ there is a pretty large contingent of Japanese and a few other Asian groups. A couple of hundred out of about 1400 entrants. A few years ago, that number was about double after the cancellation of IM Japan due to a typhoon/hurricane just before the race. Many of them came to NZ to use up some fitness. I think that was the exception that proves the rule however.

I don’t think we should actively promote any people to join triathlon. The big races in particular, already fill up way too fast. And then there are just too many people on the roads and drafting becomes an issue. It’s not that I don’t like other ethnic groups, it’s just that I don’t want more people of any colour at races. Christ, it’s hard enough for my ego to finish 700th at IMNZ, I don’t want it to become a race of 10,000 and I come 5,000th, even tho I go faster! Then I’ll NEVER get to Kona! :slight_smile:

On an episode of Fear Factor a couple of years ago, there was a twins episode. In the final there were twin black brothers. The final challenge was a water challenge. When Joe asked them what they thought their chances were, the one nearly white faced brother (from fear!) simply turned his head and said “Brothers don’t float” and then looked away, back at the water with eyes wide open. They lost. To a large extent, they can run but they can’t swim (as a generalization)

Just my 2 cents

9

Check out the competeitor list for Singapore 70.3 on Sept 2. Its a fest of multi culturalism. Triathlon is very popular here in Singaore with both the local and expat community.

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Hey,

That’s a great question, one I’m sure nearly all of us have asked ourselves before. Whatever the answer (and I’d be interested as to what people have to say), it’d be cool to see more programs reaching out to help people get involved in the sport - be it minorities, low-income people, or even college kids. There’s a lot to learn from this sport, and it would be great to extend the opportunity to as many as possible.

-Brian
when entry fees are expensive; gear expensive; training expensive; and travel (especially hotels) expensive; you’ve got a sport that caters to the upper middle class (this is the case in the united states; although i understand more affordability and more diversity in other countries)… some time ago clm posted about hotel being very high for some race. tom d felt this was good thing as it “diversified” our sport in the US. frankly, i feel it does nothing of the sort, because “regular people” who don’t make huge g’s every year just can’t afford it in conjunction with family and other things (and it is more and more costly in the US–we’ve all discussed this). the truth is that there are lots of sports outside of tri, this ain’t the only gig in town. many other sports don’t cost near as much and are much more diversified. it is what it is. but this lack of diversity is expected when the entry level equipment starts around 2g’s. (bikes).

11

I always kind of figured that it was becasue raced in predominately white areas of the US- minus a few races in Chicago.

12

Local tris here in New Zealand are also predominantly white.

There are a few Pacific Islanders, ie , Maoris, Samoans and Tongans, but they are generally local, not actually flown in from the islands for the race.

I think it is predominantly a socio-economic thing, not an exclusivity or racisist thing

theres an cultural thing going on though, not inthe classical sense, but I have worked with many pacific islanders, and the general impression I keep getting is that the maori/pacific islanders dont like competing in anything where theres no sanctioned violence.

case in point Tridork, did you see the recent TV advert for milk that featured a young boy and his father of pacific island origin, and the young fella is talking about how he wanted to play league, complete with emphasis on the tackle, bash etc…

that should stir someone up…

13

I think the diversification of the particicpation base of any sport is a positive. If sports are limited/targeted to particular socio economic groups there may well be sporting talent syphoned off to other sports. Surely an increased talent pool can only further promote the sport and increase competitive standards.

Like many sporting bodies I feel the triathlon world should promote the sports at grass roots level in all communities to aid a better cross sesctin of participants. This could be done through clinics for kids conducted by pros who would then become a tangible role model in the sport. Once role models are provided you then have sporting heroes for kids and the wheel begins to turn.

Granted triathlon is expensive and I cant afford it, but I love it and thats what sports is about. I dont have the latest equipment but I participate, enjoy the comraderie and the challenge.

14

There was a thread on this topic about a year-and-a-half ago. I remember some interesting comments.

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Check out the competeitor list for Singapore 70.3 on Sept 2. Its a fest of multi culturalism. Triathlon is very popular here in Singaore with both the local and expat community.
Yep. I did the OSIM triathlon in Singapore last month which had 3800 total participants signed up for the sprint and oly distances. I was definitely in the minority over here.

A bit tangential here, but:
I think Americans generally underestimate the size of the white majority in America. Equality and minority rights get lots of airtime (as they should) and I think this leads to a false impression that minorities make up a larger part of the overall population then they actually do.
Our friends at Wikipedia have some statistics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_demographics_of_the_United_States
Using 2000 census figures 69% of the population is of European descent (75% is white if you include those classified as white Latinos).

Though I can’t find the statistics at the moment, I believe the the two largest minority groups, latinos and blacks, are not evenly distributed across the country meaning that many parts of the country have an even greater white majority then the 69-75% average.

Add in the socio-economic disadvantaged position most minority groups find themselves in and the non-trivial cost of triathlon as a form of exercise and I’m not surprised that many events are very ‘lightly pigmented’

16

Local tris here in New Zealand are also predominantly white.

There are a few Pacific Islanders, ie , Maoris, Samoans and Tongans, but they are generally local, not actually flown in from the islands for the race.

I think it is predominantly a socio-economic thing, not an exclusivity or racisist thing

theres an cultural thing going on though, not inthe classical sense, but I have worked with many pacific islanders, and the general impression I keep getting is that the maori/pacific islanders dont like competing in anything where theres no sanctioned violence.

case in point Tridork, did you see the recent TV advert for milk that featured a young boy and his father of pacific island origin, and the young fella is talking about how he wanted to play league, complete with emphasis on the tackle, bash etc…

that should stir someone up…

Well, if it’s a bit of the ‘biff’ that they want, we better not tell them about the swim starts eh?

Maaaaaaan, I’d hate to get get clobbered by some front row ex-Auckland Warrior in a beach swim start with an onshore breeze and an outgoing tide! How do you train for that? In a pub with Temuera Morrison after a dozen Lion Reds! hehehe “Cook the man some FKn eggs!” LOL

I can explain the obscure “Once were Warriors” movie reference above to anyone that REALLY needs to know. Or you could just rent it and see for yourself. One of the most realistic and graphically violent films I think I have ever seen. My ex-co-worker said that film was like his family home videos! I’ve met his family and he wasn’t kidding.

I like the ad at the moment where the kid is eating his breakfast and the dad asks him about school. The kid said he learned the bone in your forearm is the “radius”. “Did you learn that in biology son?” “Nah” says the kid as he lifts up his arm with a cast on it, smiles and says “League!”, then the voice-over says “It’s never too late to get involved with your kids learning”. Brilliant.

With their love of sporting violence, I think the Island boys would be great at Ice Hockey, it they could just stand the cold! LOL

17

I live in Los Angeles and see every race and religion – maybe it’s the part of the country you live in ?? I am Japanese American.

Agree about the part of the country. In SF our club (and TildenM’s club) has a very, very diverse membership–white, Asian, black are all very well represented.

clm

18

I live in the SF Bay Area and see a lot of different ethnic groups at races and in my store so Ihink that it depends on which part of the USA you live in.

I would also take a look at the demographics of marathons before making conclusions. Marathons and shorter running races have a much lower entry fee to overcome than triathlons do and only require a set of shoes to do it. For a 5K almost anyone could complete the distance too so that you can throw “expensive training” excuse out the window. At the running events I’ve done in the Bay Area all ethnic groups are represented but a majority of the people are white.

That’s my observation.

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Shut the fuck up.

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I forgot about that ad you mention, the one I was thinking of featured a kid who was only about 4 years old, if that,
.