World Triathlon

Who are the greatest women triathletes of all-time?  Inside Triathlon magazine came up with their top ten and it included a number of past and present ITU stars.

Reigning Olympic champion Emma Snowsill is among the notable current triathletes.  Snowsill’s résumé includes ten World Cup wins and three World Championships, the only woman to have won three.  She’s also the only Olympic gold medallist to make the list but certainly wasn’t the only Australian amongst the greatest. 

A country with such a rich history in triathlon greatness also produced legends such as Emma Carney, Michellie Jones and Loretta Harrop.  Interestingly, both Jones and Harrop were Olympic silver medallists and each racked up 12 ITU Triathlon World Cup titles.  Harrop was crowned World Champion in Montreal in 1999 while Jones won a pair of world titles in the early 90s.

Carney was also a two-time World Champion and won 19 World Cups, which stood at the all-time ITU record until a Portuguese triathlete named Vanessa Fernandes came along.

Fernandes dominated the ITU World Cup circuit during the Athens to Beijing Olympic cycle.  The Portuguese star was atop the podium in almost every race she entered, on her way to a record 20 World Cup titles.  She also won a remarkable five consecutive European Championships, the 2007 world title and Olympic silver.  Fernandes recently announced she would be taking a step back from triathlon due to health reasons.

Also not to be forgotten amongst Inside Triathlon’s list of greatest women is Erin Baker, ITU’s first World Champion, along with Mark Allen, way back in 1989 in Avignon, France.

Click here to see the complete list