Many consider sporting events held in early twentieth century France to be the beginnings of triathlon. Many three element multisport events, of differing composition, would be held, and would all be known by different names. The earliest record for a three element event event was from 1901 in Joinville-le-Pont, it was called “Les Trois Sports” or the three sports, and involved of a run, bicycle, and canoe segments. By 1921 the event in Joinville-le-Pont had evolved to become more like a standard triathlon, with the canoe element having been replaced by a swim. These days the French capital of Paris welcomes over 4000 triathletes annually, as they race around the city, at the Garmin Triathlon Paris.
