Triathlon legend Mark Allen has paid tribute to his fellow athletes after being crowned the Greatest of All Time male competitor in a recent poll run by the Daily Split newsletter.
The American superstar, who won six IRONMAN titles in seven years throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, took an incredible 42.31% of the vote as he saw off competition from Jan Frodeno, Alistair Brownlee, David Scott and Kristian Blummenfelt to take the title of triathlon’s GOAT.
Sparked by a conversation between Blummenfelt and Frodeno on the Germans’ ‘Going Mental’ podcast last week, the Daily Split asked its subscribers to pick who they believed deserves to be classed as the greatest among a list of great competitors.
Elevated to legendary status
And while Allen came out on top of the men’s vote, he was quick to point out that the impact made by every one of his colleagues on that list should ensure that they, too, are forever regarded as GOATs of the sport.
While delighted to have been chosen by the public, being classed as a GOAT is something he believes should also be afforded to Messrs Frodeno, Brownlee, Scott and Blummenfelt for the impacts they too have had across triathlon’s broad horizon.
“Being remembered for something in this sport is a tremendous honour,” Allen told TRI247. “But every athlete on that list gave triathlon something that reached far beyond wins, records, or titles.
“They inspired millions of people to walk down to the water’s edge, to face the unknown, and to begin. That is a kind of greatness that time will never erase. And it is a title that belongs to no one person.”
Lots of love for Brownlee
As for Big Blu, he explained on Frodeno’s podcast why his hero growing up was Brownlee, while the host himself added that the double Olympic champion more than deserved his place among the greats of the sport.
“I think it was the aggressiveness, like the way he was vocal in the races and dictating what everyone was supposed to do,” says Blummenfelt. “When he was walking into the race, he was controlling the room. He was a bit like an Alpha… pure aggressiveness.
“Maybe not the best in long-distance in terms of pacing, but for short course, the pure class of just attacking from the gun was something that was so cool to watch. I was first aware of the World Series in 2010/2011, and that was the time when he, Jonny and Javier Gomez were really dominating the sport.
“They were in the front for the whole race, from the gun. You could see from the facial expressions that Javier looked so controlled, Jonny was sort of in the middle, and with Alistair, you could see that he would rather die than lose that race. Maybe that was something similar to the way I was racing. I would rather die than lose in that race.”
Frodeno replies with: “That guy had us under such control. The term GOAT gets thrown around everywhere and anywhere, but Alistair, to me, definitely has a claim to that title.
“I know he never had any long-distance success, but at Olympic distance it was quite something to witness because the facial expression, the aura and that anger he brought to it was definitely quite something.”
How the five men stacked up…
- Mark Allen: Forced to play second fiddle to his great nemesis, Dave Scott, for so long, Allen finally took his first IRONMAN title in 1989, following a race which will forever be known as the Iron War. A truly epic encounter, finally saw the Californian get the better of his old rival and served as a springboard for a career that saw him win six titles in seven years. He was also a winner of the Nice Triathlon ten times.
- Dave Scott: The six-time IRONMAN World Champion was the second half of that incredible Iron War and has been a huge presence in the sport since it first became one of the major endurance contests across the world. His battles with Allen have gone down in folklore, but having denied his great rival victory for so many years, that race in 1989 heralded a changing of the guard as Allen took over the mantle. His triathlon legacy is, however, assured as one of the greats.
- Jan Frodeno: The German upset the odds to take Olympic gold in 2008, but his surprise victory in Beijing only served as a springboard for a triathlon career that many still believe to be the very best in the history of the sport. The first athlete to win an Olympic and IRONMAN World Championship double, he won three titles in 2015, 2016 and 2019, while also winning the 70.3 World Championships in 2015 and 2018. Throw in a Challenge Roth win in 2016, and it is hard to argue with those who tag him as the greatest.
- Alistair Brownlee: The Briton may not have had the long-distance career of those mentioned above, but when it comes to the short-course version of triathlon, there was nobody better than Alistair Brownlee. Responsible for so many athletes taking up the sport, he – together with his younger brother Jonny – inspired a generation to take up multi-sport as he stormed to Olympic gold at London in 2012 and Rio in 2016. Add in his multiple World titles, and you have an athlete who fully deserves to be mentioned in the GOAT discussion.
- Kristian Blummenfelt: With an Olympic gold, IRONMAN 70.3 and full-distance world championship already to his name, the Norwegian is well on his way to being grouped with the guys above. And what makes his position even stronger is the fact that he isn’t anywhere near finished yet. The way the Norwegian has started 2026 certainly bodes well in terms of his pursuit of more major titles.
A poll for the Greatest of All Time women’s triathlete was launched in the Daily Split over the weekend, and those results are expected at the end of this week, with Natascha Badmann, Flora Duffy, Paula Newby-Fraser, Daniela Ryf and Chrissie Wellington fighting for the votes.
Here is how the final percentage split shook out for the men’s vote:
🏆 Mark Allen – 42.31%
🥈 Jan Frodeno – 23.08%
🥉 Alistair Brownlee – 15.38%
🔥 David Scott – 11.54%
🇳🇴 Kristian Blummenfelt – 7.69%
The Daily Split is a specialist endurance newsletter with editions sent out via email on Tuesdays and Saturdays, covering news, analysis, features and training tips from the sport’s leading coaches. To sign up for the next edition, click HERE.
