Repository logo
 
Publication

Women in the triathlon—the differences between female and male triathletes: a narrative review

2025Journal article Open access
Simple item page
datacite.subject.fosCiências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais
datacite.subject.fosCiências Médicas::Outras Ciências Médicas
datacite.subject.sdg04:Educação de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg03:Saúde de Qualidade
datacite.subject.sdg05:Igualdade de Género
dc.contributor.authorLoosli, Michèle
dc.contributor.authorNikolaidis, Pantelis Theo
dc.contributor.authorScheer, Volker
dc.contributor.authorWilhelm, Matthias
dc.contributor.authorForte, Pedro
dc.contributor.authorAndrade, Marilia Santos
dc.contributor.authorRosemann, Thomas
dc.contributor.authorDuric, Sasa
dc.contributor.authorCuk, Ivan
dc.contributor.authorKnechtle, Beat
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-06T14:41:42Z
dc.date.available2025-11-06T14:41:42Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractTriathlon events have gained popularity in recent years. With the increasing participation of women, aspects that influence performance and physiology, as well as differences between women and men, are of interest to athletes and coaches. A review of the existing literature concerning differences between women and men in triathlon is lacking. Therefore, this narrative review aimed to compare female and male triathletes in terms of participation, performance, and the different influences on performance (e.g., physiology, age, pacing, motivation). A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus using the search terms "female triathletes", "women in triathlon", "triathlon AND gender difference", and "triathlon AND sex difference". 662 articles were found using this search strategy, of which 147 were relevant for this review. All distances from sprint to ultra-triathlon (e.g., x-times IRONMAN (R) distance) were analyzed. Results: The results showed that the participation of female triathletes, especially female master triathletes increased over time. An improvement in the performance of female and older triathletes was observed at the different distances in the last decades. Sex differences in performance varied across distances and in the three disciplines. Female triathletes showed a significantly lower VO2max and higher lactate thresholds compared to men. They also had a higher body fat percentage and lower body mass. The age for peak performance in the IRONMAN (R) triathlons is achieved between 25 and 39 years for both women and men. Strong predictors of IRONMAN (R) race performance in both female and male triathletes include achieving a personal best time in a marathon and a previous best time in triathlon races. Further studies need to balance the representation of female and male athletes in study cohorts to ensure that findings are relevant to both sexes. Another research gap that should be addressed by future studies is the effect of menstruation and female hormones, the presence of premenstrual syndrome, and the impact of pregnancy and childbirth on the triathlon performance to better understand the differences with men and to account for hormonal fluctuations in training.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThe author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article.
dc.identifier.citationLoosli, Michèle; Nikolaidis, Pantelis T.; Scheer, Volker; Wilhelm, Matthias; Forte, Pedro; Andrade, Marilia; Rosemann, Thomas; Duric, Sasa; Cuk, Ivan; Knechtle, Beat (2025) Women in the triathlon—the differences between female and male triathletes: a narrative review. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. ISSN 2624-9367. 7, p. 1-30
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fspor.2025.1567676
dc.identifier.issn2624-9367
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/34981
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherFrontiers Media
dc.relation.ispartofFrontiers in Sports and Active Living
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectIronman
dc.subjectSex differences
dc.subjectPerformance
dc.subjectEndurance
dc.subjectUltra triathlon
dc.subjectTraining
dc.subjectFemale triathletes
dc.titleWomen in the triathlon—the differences between female and male triathletes: a narrative revieweng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.endPage30
oaire.citation.startPage1
oaire.citation.titleFrontiers in Sports and Active Living
oaire.citation.volume7
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameForte
person.givenNamePedro
person.identifier.ciencia-id351B-B16B-79C7
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-0184-6780
relation.isAuthorOfPublication3ecc6d1b-07a4-40d7-81f4-df6fd7b3d5b0
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery3ecc6d1b-07a4-40d7-81f4-df6fd7b3d5b0

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Women in the triathlon.pdf
Size:
1.07 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.75 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

ESE - Artigos em Revistas Indexados à WoS/Scopus