The triathlon and para triathlon events were two of the showstoppers of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. With arguably the iconic venue of the Games combined with some of the most pulse-raising action of the summer, the triathlon events certainly made a splash. Within the sport itself, the racing at the Games shook up the all-time medal table at the Olympic and Paralympic levels. Paris represented the seventh appearance of triathlon at the Olympic Games and the third outing of para triathlon at the Paralympics and, on the medal front, there is plenty to dissect.

Olympic

Once again, leading the medal haul was Great Britain. For the second straight Games, the British team won medals in all three disciplines while they secured three medals in total for the third consecutive Olympics. As it happens, all eleven of Britain’s Olympic triathlon medals have come since London 2012 when the recently-retired Alistair Brownlee took men’s gold. Brownlee’s maiden crown set off a run of four straight gold medals for the squad (of which three have come in the men’s race and one in the Mixed Team Relay). Meanwhile, since London, Britain have hoovered up over a third of the available Olympic triathlon medals.

Julie Derron’s silver medal in Paris continued Switzerland’s impressive legacy at the Games. As a result, Switzerland holds two medals of each colour across all Olympic triathlon events to stand as the second most successful country after Britain. Similarly, Germany’s gold in the Mixed Team Relay elevated them to a select club. Alongside Britain and Switzerland, they are one of the few countries to have claimed multiple Olympic triathlon gold medals.

On the home front, after bronze in the relay in Tokyo, the French team claimed their first ever individual Olympic medals with Cassandre Beaugrand striking women’s gold and Leo Bergere nabbing bronze in the men’s race.

Hayden Wilde matched the achievement of compatriot Bevan Docherty in winning individual medals at consecutive Games. Notably, Wilde’s silver medal has helped New Zealand draw level with neighbours Australia. With Wilde likely to be still going strong in four years and Australia pinning their hopes on WTCS gold medallist Matthew Hauser, the Oceanian battle for outright regional triathlon supremacy could be one of the key dramas in Los Angeles.

Speaking of Los Angeles, the American team also find themselves even with New Zealand and Australia on five medals thanks to their second consecutive silver medal in the relay. Having seen the value of home support in Paris, Team USA will be eyeballing a higher slot in the overall medal table. See the latest Olympic medal table by national federation below.

Olympic medal table (all time)

• Great Britain: 11 medals (4 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze)
• Switzerland: 6 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
• Germany: 3 medals (2 gold, 1 silver)
• Australia: 5 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
• New Zealand: 5 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)                
• United States: 5 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
• Canada: 2 medals (1 gold, 1 silver)
• France: 3 medals (1 gold, 2 bronze)
• Austria: 1 medal (1 gold)
• Bermuda: 1 medal (1 gold)
• Norway: 1 medal (1 gold)
• Portugal: 1 medal (1 silver)
• Spain: 1 medal (1 silver)
• Sweden: 1 medal (1 silver)
• Czech Republic: 1 medal (1 bronze)
• South Africa: 1 medal (1 bronze)

On the individual side, Alex Yee and Wilde became the sixth and seventh athletes to win multiple individual medals at the Games. Alistair Brownlee remains the only athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals while Nicola Spirig is the only female athlete to hold multiple individual medals. After her gold medal exploits this summer, one athlete capable of crashing both clubs in Los Angeles is none other than the reigning Olympic and world champion, Beaugrand. You can see the full list of multiple Olympic medallists here.

Paralympic

Paris 2024 saw the biggest para triathlon programme yet at the Games with a whopping 33 medals on offer. One country that made the most of the expanded programme was the United States of America as Team USA enjoyed its most successful Paralympic Games ever in the sport. With eight medals, including three golds, Paris was the third time the American squad have topped the para triathlon medal table.  

Behind Team USA, France, Spain and Britain all ended the Games with two golds apiece across the para triathlon events. France’s results broke new ground in multiple ways. Prior to the Games, they had only won three para triathlon medals before. In Paris they more than doubled that tally with their four podium finishes. In addition, the triumphs of Jules Ribstein and Alexis Hanquinquant represented the first ever home gold medallists in para triathlon at the Paralympics.

Spain’s four medals matched their previous record from Tokyo, albeit with one more gold this time around. Britain and Netherlands also had their best Paralympics yet in the sport with five and three medals, respectively.

Elsewhere, Brazil won their first ever para triathlon medal at the Games thanks to Ronan Cordeiro’s PTS5 silver. This lifts the total number of national federations to have medalled in Paralympic para triathlon to thirteen. In total, eleven federations medalled in Paris, matching the number from Tokyo.

In the wake of Paris, Italy will be particularly keen to make it onto the top of a para triathlon podium in Los Angeles. With seven medals thus far, Italy has the most medals of any federation not to have claimed a single gold. They are creeping closer, though, and with rising talent like Francesca Tarantello the first gold may just arrive in four years. View the latest Paralympic medal table by national federation below.

Paralympic medal table (all time)

• United States: 17 medals (8 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze)
• Great Britain: 12 medals (4 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze)
• Spain: 9 medals (3 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze)
• France: 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
• Netherlands: 6 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
• Germany: 5 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
• Australia: 3 medals (2 gold, 1 silver)
• Italy: 7 medals (4 silver, 3 bronze)
• Austria: 2 medals (2 silver)
• Canada: 3 medals (1 silver, 2 bronze)
• Japan: 2 medals (1 silver, 1 bronze)
• Brazil: 1 medal (1 silver)
• Morocco: 1 medal (1 bronze)

Paris also saw several athletes win a third consecutive medal at the Games. Jetze Plat (PTWC) is the only athlete with a perfect record after he claimed a third gold in a row this summer. Joining him with three medals of any colour were Hailey Danz (PTS2), Grace Norman (PTS5), Lauren Steadman (PTS5), Allysa Seely (PTS2) and Martin Schulz (PTS5).

Finally, Mohamed Lahna (PTS2) became the first triathlete in either the Olympics or Paralympics to win medals for two different countries. Lahna earned a para triathlon bronze for Morocco back in 2016. Eight years later, he was back for more in Paris racing under the American flag as he powered to the silver medal.