Eight years ago triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney, and since then it has become one of the fastest growing participation sports Great Britain has ever seen. In our Beijing Bound series, Annie Emmerson takes a look back at the sport's history, the 2000 Olympic course, the British team and the athletes that won the first ever Olympic triathlon medals.

The History

According to triathlon historian and author Scott Tinley, the origin of triathlon is anecdotally attributed to a race in France during the 1920-1930s that was called "Les trois sports," "La Course des Débrouillards" and "La course des Touche à Tout." Nowadays, this race is held every year in France near Joinville le Pont, in Meulan and Poissy. In 1920 the French newspaper "L´Auto" reported on a competition called "Les Trois Sports" with a 3km run, 12km bike and a crossing of the channel Marne.

Early triathlons were held as off-beat training exercises for runners. The first known swim/bike/run triathlons were held at San Diego’s Mission Bay in 1974. Organized by members of the San Diego Track Club, the events were held on summer evenings and were intended as no more than light-hearted breaks in the normal grind of training for marathons and 10ks. This occurrence is well-documented and was not based on the French events. Amongst them were runners, swimmers and cyclists and before long training sessions turned into informal races. Directed and conceived by Jack Johnstone and Don Shanahan, the first Mission Bay Triathlon was held on September 25, 1974 and welcomed 46 athletes. This date is celebrated as the day modern triathlon began.

Triathlon made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney after it was awarded full medal status six years earlier at the IOC congress in Paris. The international popularity of triathlon really started to grow after its inclusion on the Olympic programme. By 2003, the ITU’s World Cup circuit expanded to 18 races in 14 different countries.

The location and course

Sydney is situated on Australia's south-east coast and is the most populous city in Australia. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is noted for the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets, all in all a perfect location for an Olympic triathlon! The new CEO of British Triathlon, Zara Hyde Peters, summed it up when she was asked about her first memory of triathlon, "The memory that most stands out was when I was watching the triathlon at the Sydney Olympics on TV and I just thought what an incredible venue and city, but above all, it just seemed to have the most amazing atmosphere."

The swim took place in Sydney Harbour's Farm Cove, which is over-looked by the towering Harbour Bridge and the most famous Opera houses in the world. The wetsuit swim, in the cold choppy harbour water was a 1500m one-lap triangle shaped course, with the first point of the triangle lying below the point known as Mrs Macquaries Chair. The second followed the eastern seawall of the Domain toward the Royal Botanic Gardens in the head of the cove, and the third was the starting point back near the Opera House.

The cycling course, made up of six-laps, travelled up Macquarie Street around to Art Gallery Road and past the Art Gallery of New South Wales to Mrs Maquarie's Point. It then went down College Street to the turnaround point and headed back down Macquarie Street to the Opera House, where it passed under the main building and looped around through the transition area.

The two-lap running circuit followed the foreshore of Farm Cove winding its way towards Mrs Macquarie's Point and on to the College Street turnaround, then down Macquarie Street to the finish at the Opera House.

All in all, a tough honest course, with a hard one-lap swim, a demanding a technical bike course and an undulating challenging run.

The Brits

Sian Brice was our greatest medal prospect in the women's team. In 1999 she was sixth in the World Championships behind five Aussies and went to Sydney as one of the top European athletes. Sadly, a high speed crash during the bike leg saw her Olympic dream come to an abrupt end. Sian had desperately wanted to continue the race, but the GB coaches and on-site medics wouldn't allow it due to the fact she'd come down hard and taken a nasty bang to the head.

Steph Forrester was a bit of a dark horse and she proved this by running the fastest run time of the day by a massive 50 seconds. Sadly though, her swim had let her down and she was too far down the field going out onto the run. Disappointingly, even with such a devastatingly fast run (34:23 on a hilly demanding course), she only managed 15th place.

Michelle Dillon was a last minute entrant as she replaced the injured Julie Dibens just days before the event. Michelle, who switched allegiances just a couple of years before the Olympics, had plenty of experience where high level competition was concerned as she represented Australia in the 10,000m at the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Sadly for Michelle, her race ended on the fourth lap of the bike when her stem broke and she was unable to continue in the race.

Simon Lessing, along with fellow Brit Spencer Smith, dominated Olympic distance triathlon in the 90s. Lessing, a multiple World Champion, won the ITU Olympic Distance Triathlon World Championship in 1992 (Muskoka, Canada), 1995 (Cancún, Mexico), 1996 (Cleveland, Ohio, United States), and 1998 (Lausanne, Switzerland). Having ruled triathlon for so long - Simon would often lead out the swim, dominate on the bike and finish off with a devastatingly fast run - few would have predicted that he would be flying home empty handed, but that's exactly what did happen, as he came home in a disappointing ninth place.

Tim Don, a young 21 year-old at the time had nothing to lose and only experience to gain for his triathlon future ahead. He was perhaps a surprise member of the team, as several more experienced athletes had to make way for the fast and up-and-coming young lad from London. Already a World Champion - albeit as a junior - Don looked comfortable and relaxed with his Olympic status even at such a young age. His very commendable tenth place finish, just behind Simon, showed the triathlon world a sign of greater things to come.

Andrew Johns who also had switched allegiances from Australia to race for Great Britain, was another strong contender for a medal. His results spoke for themselves: two European Championship titles and a bucket load of podium World Cup results, including several victories, had firmly marked Johns as potential medallist. Sadly though, illness doesn't spare the seriously fit and Johns came down with the 'flu just days before the games. He did start, but was unable to finish due to his illness.

Sydney through the eyes of coach and commentator: Steve Trew

Sydney was the best ever! I totally loved being on the holding camp up near Brisbane, working with Sian (and also Julie Dibens with the swim sessions). Late nights with Chris Jones and Bill Black and so many of the other sports coaches. Amazing turbo sessions in the marquee we shared with the British rowing team - watching them train, quite sensational. Meeting swimmers and runners I hadn't seen in literally ten years.

And then down to Sydney; can you imagine... First sport on the first day, at the Opera House. The first Olympic triathlon was meant to be there. Trading in my coaches hat for my commentator's one, feeling the tingles as we announced the athletes, watching Sian run forward, and knowing, just knowing, that she was going to medal.

One of the best days of my life, and one of the worst! Seeing Sian crash out on the bike on the big screen and knowing it was her. Marc Dragan alongside me in the commentary box, and Drags knowing exactly what I was feeling. Big buddy from way back was Drags, we'd raced together in Europe back in the 80s. "Do you want to step outside for a minute Steve?" Drags being kind. Stepping outside and then getting back into the commentary, and this is weird, forgetting (or maybe forcing myself to forget) that Sian had crashed and getting caught up in the excitement. Watching Michellie Jones just losing out on the run (even now, I find it difficult to say the name of the winner, she who tested positive some years later).

And then... catching up with Sian and Paddy after the race, loads of tears, all that stuff (and Sian was pretty emotional as well). Paddy had literally got off the plane that morning, can you imagine how he was feeling? That was day one.

And then... Simon Whitfield winning the men's. Simon, one of the absolute nicest guys in the sport; I coached him for a very short time when he was a junior... a tenuous link to the Olympic Champion so it doesn't matter, but the man who so, so, so deserved to win on the day. Watching Simon collapse in tears at the prize-giving ceremony and knowing that his life would never ever be the same again.

And you know what, he hasn't changed at all. Oh maybe he has, he's an even nicer bloke now. Big compliment, Simon, big compliment that is truly meant.

And then... thinking, "You know what, it's over, I want to go home now, I miss my kids so much."

So I did, I went straight from the Opera House to the Quantas offices, only half a mile away, so lucky. Such nice people. "Yes, we can change your flight Mr Trew, when would you like to travel?" "Can I go now?" "Next flight is at 4pm today, that's in three hours time, can you be ready?"

You bet I could, back and pack, taxi to the airport, check-in and then, wonder of wonders, an upgrade as we were getting on the plane, thank you Quantas.

More than that, thank-you Sydney, thank-you triathlon, thank-you Olympic Games, and thank-you Sian.

The race

The women's race: On the 16th of September 2000, day one of the Sydney Olympics, 50 women dived into Sydney Harbour off a pontoon lined with photographers eager to not to miss a glimpse of this historic race. Of course, all eyes were on Aussie Michellie Jones, the heavy pre-race favourite who won the test event just five months earlier by out-sprinting her team mate, Loretta Harrop. American Sheila Taormina set the early pace in the swim, emerging from the water almost 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. But the former swimmer wasn't able to hold the lead through the entire bike leg and by the time the women headed onto the run course, Jones was out in front, much to the delight of the home crowd.

The Olympics is always full of upsets and of course no one had predicted that Brigitte McMahon (SUI) had her own plans to take the gold medal as she boldly shocked the triathlon world when she out-sprinted Michellie down the home stretch, past the Opera House and into history as triathlon’s first Olympic gold medallist. Jones settled for silver, just two heartbreaking seconds behind McMahon. Magali Messmer made it two out of three for Switzerland, taking the bronze. American Joanna Zeiger finished in fourth place while Loretta Harrop, (who was forced to go to court to win her Olympic team place), of Australia rounded out the top five.

The men's race: After the triathlon world caught its breath and had time to take in the massive upset of the women’s race, 50 men competed on the same course the next day in search of Olympic glory. Australian hopes were with Miles Stewart and Peter Robertson, who, like Jones, also won the test event in April. But it was another Aussie, Craig Walton, who had the locals cheering as he led the men out of the water. Right on his heels were a pair of men many predicted would clash for gold, New Zealand’s Hamish Carter and Great Britain's Simon Lessing. But it was another Simon who would come out of nowhere to pull off the second stunner in as many races.

Despite being down by more than a minute off the bike, Simon Whitfield stormed through the 10km run course and ran his way back into contention. With 800 meters to go, he was still a solid 40 meters behind German Stefan Vuckovic. But Whitfield moved up another gear and with a final finishing kick that would change his life, the Canadian leaped across the finish line to grab Olympic gold. He posted the fastest run split of the day and was the only man to run under 31 minutes. Vuckovic held on for the silver, the same medal he won at the Sydney ITU Triathlon World Cup, the test event in April. Czech Jan Rehula came across for the bronze medal. Dmitriy Gaag of Kazakhstan and Spaniard Ivan Rana finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The podium