Retrospective analysis reveals key environmental and geographic drivers of race times in professional triathletes, highlighting the advantage of moderate temperatures.
Key Points
To determine the best-performing nationalities, fastest race locations, and ideal environmental conditions for professional IRONMAN triathletes.
Analyzed records from 6,848 professional finishers across 37 countries and 54 race locations between 2002 and 2022.
Trained a non-linear machine learning model using sex, country of origin, race location, and ambient air and water temperatures to predict total finish time.
The fastest male times were achieved by athletes from Ukraine (8.71±0.58 h) and Portugal (8.79±0.41 h), while the fastest female times were recorded by athletes from Poland (9.37±0.35 h) and Finland (9.53±0.64 h).
Tallinn (9.01±0.67 h) and Switzerland Thun (9.02±0.38 h) hosted the fastest overall race times.
Sex served as the most influential predictor of performance followed by nationality, with optimal race times linked to air temperatures of 19 to 27 °C and warmer water temperatures.