I'm an Athlete (Who's Also a Woman)
Several months ago, I received a survey from IRONMAN.
I thought it was interesting, because not only was it a survey about triathlon, it specifically focused on female triathletes. (Side note: I love doing surveys. No idea why. I’m just weird that way.)
It had questions about what triathlon has brought into my life, perceived barriers of entry into the sport, and ways IRONMAN could enhance the race experience for women.
We learned yesterday that the survey went out to over 10,000 female endurance athletes in 97 different countries. The results of the study were released, as well as participation trends in IRONMAN and 70.3 races over the past five years.
There was some interesting data, to say the least, and I have conflicting thoughts about the best way to analyze it and work to grow participation in long-distance triathlon among women.
Women, an underrepresented group in triathlon?
I’m not sure why I put a question mark on this headline, because it’s kind of obvious. Men participate in triathlon at a higher rate than women. It’s been that way since the very beginning of the sport.
However, the way I explain it is that there are talented male triathletes and talented female triathletes, but there are just more of those athletes who are men than women. The pointy end is the same, but the volume is different.
Here are a few things you might not know about women in triathlon.
1979- 28-year-old Lyn Lemaire is the first woman to compete in an IRONMAN.
1986- IRONMAN introduces a prize purse for pro athletes (thanks to an anonymous donor). Unlike many other sports, the payout was equal for men and women.
2014- Triathlon is designated a NCAA Emerging Sport for Women
2015- Former pro triathlete, Sara Gross, promotes 50 Women to Kona, a campaign highlighting the imbalance of slots (50 for men and 35 for women) at the IRONMAN World Championship.
2015- Women for Tri launches, $300,000 in grants for triathlon clubs and special slots for races.
2022- Victoria Brumfield named the CEO of USA Triathlon, becoming the first female CEO in 40 years.
Results of the IM Female Endurance Athlete Survey
Notice that I didn’t call this the Female Triathlete Survey, because the women surveyed weren’t just triathletes. That’s an important point we’ll get into later.
Now for the data!
The United States and Canada have seen a 10% increase in female participation in long-distance IRONMAN events from 2024-2025. However, globally, women make up only 18% of IRONMAN triathletes and 26% of 70.3 athletes. So if you’re a woman who’s done a 70.3 or IRONMAN, consider yourself part of a pretty exclusive club!
The percentages seem fairly accurate, but I think the reason why also has to do with volume. 70.3 is by far the more popular distance these days, among athletes of both genders, because it’s a more approachable entry point and the training volume is easier to balance with everyday life, as opposed to an IRONMAN which is a much bigger commitment.
The press release also referenced data from USA Triathlon showing that women’s participation in long-distance triathlon has only recovered 71% of pre-COVID participation compared to men, which has recovered by 91%.
As for the survey itself, IRONMAN sent questionnaires to over 10,000 female endurance athletes from 97 countries. This included:
Existing IRONMAN and 70.3 athletes
Female athletes with running or multisport background who’ve participated in IRONMAN-owned events like Rock N Roll running, UTMB World Series Trail, and short-distance triathlon
Female athletes with backgrounds in swimming, cycling, mountain biking, running, and obstacle course racing who haven’t participated in any IRONMAN events.
Before we look at the survey results, it’s important to consider the possibility of biases that can occur in any study.
For example, there might be a self-selection bias, because the women who chose to respond to the survey are likely already engaged or interested in endurance sports. But we might miss out on the voices of those outside the sport, like women who tried triathlon once and quit, or those who feel the sport doesn’t represent them demographically, culturally, or socioeconomically. This might also apply to women who live in regions with no IRONMAN events and who aren’t familiar with the brand.
Also, while the study provides valuable insights, these three groups have different levels of exposure to triathlon, different motivations, and different barriers. So when looking at the results, we can’t think of them as the collective voice of women’s triathlon. Based on the descriptions of the women surveyed, you’re looking at maybe a little over 1/3 who are triathletes.
Responses from experienced triathletes may skew the perceived barriers and perceptions of the sport, but athletes who have a background in single sports may simply want to do their single sport and have no desire to do a triathlon.
Also, this study applies to IRONMAN with a focus on long-distance triathlon, and I expect the participation level, and opinions, of women doing short-course triathlon is likely different.
Now, let’s take a look!
Barriers to entry for women in triathlon
According to the study, “finding time” was the most significant barrier preventing women’s participation in triathlon or endurance sports. Reasons listed included demands of family life, volume of training required, ability to find childcare to enable training, and finding time to train.
56% of female triathletes said “demands on family life” were a significant barrier to women getting involved in the sport.
I’m not sure how this information will be that helpful given that triathlon associations or brands can’t impact the demands of training and competing on family life, or the volume of training required for that matter. It is what it is for long-course triathlon, whether you’re a man or a woman. Training for a 5K is just a lot more doable for more people juggling a busy life than training for a 70.3 or an IRONMAN.
When looking at non-triathletes specifically, 23% listed concerns about body image and confidence. A secondary concern was cost of entry. Interestingly enough, 28%of female triathletes listed cost as a concern, but only 13% of non-triathletes listed it as a concern. Perhaps triathletes are more familiar with the actual costs of competing in IRONMAN triathlon, as opposed to non-triathletes who just might not know.
Best ways to grow participation among women in triathlon
85% of non-triathletes believed that improved race experiences, increased visibility and promotion of female racing, and fostering engaged community are the keys to growing female participation. I find a little issue with part of this, because how is a non-triathlete supposed to provide feedback on improving race experiences when they’ve never actually done a race?
Also, 40% of female endurance athletes (I’m assuming this means triathletes plus single sport athletes) believed “increasing visibility is the single most important thing we can do to grow female participation.”
I get it… somewhat. Perhaps I just don’t fall into this 40%. As a female triathlete, I feel well-represented. I regularly see stories, social media posts, interviews, and YouTube videos featuring women on IRONMAN and USAT channels. There’s Women For Tri and the USAT Women’s Series. I see hundreds of women competing on race day at IRONMAN events, female pros being featured, and other brands holding short-course women-specific triathlons. I’m not sure what’s meant by “increasing visibility” or what tangible benefits that can actually provide.
53% of female IRONMAN or 70.3 triathletes cite they train predominantly on their own. 71% would prefer to train with family member, friend, training partner, or triathlon club. Among non-IRONMAN endurance athletes, 63% do train alongside a family member, friend, or club, “suggesting that a sense of community or the convenience of connection is easier to find outside of triathlon.”
I don’t think that’s what this statistic reveals. It likely reflects the fact that running or cycling are more popular sports among the masses than triathlon, so of course it’s easier to hop into a local run group or get someone to join you for a 3-mile run as opposed to a 50-mile bike ride or open water swim.
I suppose the answer is more triathlon clubs and community engagement, which would be amazing, but that’s not something brands or even associations create. They can help provide framework and some resources, but building and sustaining these types of clubs is a grassroots effort, and it’s hard. It takes volunteers willing to dedicate their time and opt-in from athletes. Having served on the board of a local triathlon club for three years, I can confirm that getting people to participate, or volunteer, for anything is very challenging these days.
Impact of triathlon in the lives of women
When asked how participating in triathlon, or endurance sports, has affected their lives, the women surveyed listed health and fitness improvements (75% triathletes, 72% non triathletes.) Great!
67% of triathletes said becoming an athlete has become part of their identity, 60% made new friends, and 65% experienced personal growth and self-discovery.
I know triathlon has provided a competitive outlet for me, as someone who’s well past high school and college years. I’ve been an athlete my whole life and training for a goal and competing in triathlon provides a way to push my limits, and has provided a source of community and some great friends.
So what now?
Following the survey, IRONMAN reached out to what they’re calling “six independent subject matter experts.” They were all women and included CEOS of organizations, media groups, running clubs, and female-specific teams.
The goal was to make sense of the data, highlight trends, and identify opportunities to grow the sport of triathlon among women.
Visibility- Women seeing themselves represented in triathlon
Race experience- Location, distances, conveniences, onsite experiences to address barriers to entry
Community- foster opportunities for community among athletes, like Women For Tri.
Again, I think “visibility” is a bit of a vague buzz word, and I’m not sure what tangible results you can see from that. I’m not sure that just seeing a photo of a woman crossing a finish line is going to inspire another woman to sign up for an IRONMAN. However, where I think this could be useful is in telling the real-life stories of these women.
Like the story of 27-year-old Alia Gamal El Deen, a former professional basketball player in Egypt, who suffered from bulimia. She’s since competed in numerous 70.3 triathlons, the 70.3 World Championship, and became a triathlon coach. She credits triathlon with helping her learn the importance of food and fueling her body properly. There are so many age-groupers out there with incredible stories that deserve to be told (both women and men).
Community is excellent, but it takes hard work and investment to grow and support that type of athlete involvement. Race experience is interesting, because at first glance, you might think what onsite experiences would be specific to female triathletes?
Here’s a screenshot from the survey.
Honestly, I don’t need any of these things. I’m not sure how private changing rooms in transition provide any type of benefit, or what that would look like, and I certainly don’t need a women’s specific toilet, or additional toilets on course. (I don’t get this? Do we go more than men?) And I’ve already seen tampons stocked in IRONMAN changing tents. Personally, I just need the course to be well-marked, aid stations to be stocked, and the race to be organized and efficient. That’s it.
But I do understand how some of these amenities might be beneficial for other women. I interviewed an incredible lady, Jacqui Giuliano, after she competed at Kona in 2022, just 3 months after having twins. Yes, you read that correctly. We chatted about how she was concerned about getting access to a breast pump in transition. She ended up reaching out to pro triathlete, Meredith Kessler, who connected her with Paula Newby-Fraser, who sent her to the right person at IRONMAN to get her husband special permission to go in transition with the pump.
Here’s what she said: “If I hadn’t heard back, we planned for Ryan to be on the Hot Corner, and I would’ve pumped right then and there!”
So I can see how some women might enjoy amenities like areas to pump in transition or onsite childcare at races. Is it enough to get them to sign up for an IRONMAN? I’m not sure.
Either way, the press release says IRONMAN is focusing on growing women’s participation in the sport with things like “increased visibility of women in IRONMAN content and media, enhancements to race-day experiences such as women-specific facilities, and community-focused training groups, meet ups, and information sessions that help educate and inform how to overcome the real and perceived barriers into the sport.”
All admirable goals. However, I think that some of these ideas might skew toward retention of existing athletes, instead of conversion of runners/cyclists to the sport, or rethinking how to get underrepresented groups into triathlon.
On the other hand, this sounds much more helpful.
“To partner with young athletes, athletes from new and emerging markets, race directors inside and outside of the IRONMAN ecosystem, and a broad network of federations to explore how best to inspire and welcome new athletes, create pipelines from other endurance sports, break down barriers to entry, and grow the sport’s ecosystem of short, middle, and long-distance triathlon events.”
Another interesting announcement is that IRONMAN is implementing a minimum of five minutes between the start times of professional men, professional women, and age-group athletes for all 2025 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events, which is great. Apparently, the time gaps for World Championship events will be even larger.
My personal experience + two cents
It’s an interesting thing being a woman and an athlete, because then you’re automatically a female-athlete. This always struck me as a bit weird, because I don’t call my husband a male-athlete.
I’m just an athlete, who also happens to be a woman.
It’s certainly not a bad thing to promote female-athletes. It can be great, when done in the right way. There’s still a lot of disparities in female sports that need work.
I think my opinion is colored somewhat by my experience of being an equestrian for 15 years. We didn’t compete in groups based on gender. It was by age group. I competed in the 13 and under, 14-18, and Classic Amateur 19-44, both women and men.
Also, the interesting thing is that in APHA and AQHA (American Paint Horse and American Quarter Horse) competition, the youth and amateur divisions are predominantly female. Don’t believe me? When I was the editor of an equestrian publication, I remember assigning this topic to one of my writers: Minority Report- Young Male Competitors in a Ring Full of Girls. Go figure! A sport with the complete opposite problem.
But I think we can look at what they did as an example. Instead of seeking to increase visibility of men in equestrian or coming up with male-specific amenities at competitions, they took a different approach. They focused on where these athletes were coming from- the kids.
Any sport that doesn’t get a fresh infusion of new blood will eventually die off. In equestrian, that’s meant supporting new youth programs via 4H and other local outlets to get kids involved in the sport at a young age. That’s where it all starts.
Over the past two years, we’ve seen a pretty significant increase of college-aged athletes joining our local triathlon club, which is great. With the NCAA college triathlon scene (and the focus on women’s triathlon specifically) I think this could be a great feeder program for long-distance triathlon. But it comes with a caveat, because most college-aged kids simply can’t afford high-priced race entries. Perhaps this means discounted entries for the 25 and under age group.
One way to target the collegiate scene, made up of athletes already interested in short-course triathlon, might be to have an IRONMAN Collegiate Championshipwhere 4 existing events (3 70.3 and 1 full, perhaps) are selected to gain points to crown an overall IRONMAN Collegiate Champion.
In fact, the data supports this shift to a younger demographic. There was a 39% increase in first-timers under the age of 30 compared to 2019. Across the 70.3 distance, there was 66% growth of athletes under the age of 30 compared to 2019. In 2024, the 30-34 age group was the largest category for the first time.
Also, look at the emergence of younger pros who’ve won 70.3 and IRONMAN World Championships, like Taylor Knibb (24), Gustav Iden (26), and Sam Laidlow (24).
Another idea might be to reach out to the amazing female triathlon coaches we have in the sport, who are serving age-groupers, and get their insights.
I’m not certain what the answer is to better support involvement of women in triathlon (long-course specifically). But here’s what I do know. After interviewing a lot of age-group athletes over the years, most of the women I talk to come from two specific areas.
They were single sport athletes who needed a new competitive outlet after college.
They were introduced to triathlon by a friend.
So if you’re a female triathlete, remember we need to stick together! Get your friends involved and help share the love, joy, and empowerment that you can find through triathlon.
A few amazing women in triathlon + Matt :)
I know this was a bit different than what I usually write, so if you’ve read this long, thanks! Remember, you can get more involved with the Triple Threat Life Club.
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