USA Triathlon's 2024 Impact Report: A Year of Sport, Celebration, and Community

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Triathlon today released its 2024 Impact Report, a comprehensive overview of the organization's review of multisport in 2024, highlighting key milestones in USA Triathlon membership trends, event participation, elite competition, and community initiatives. 

Publishing the 2024 Impact Report and sharing key insights from USA Triathlon’s membership data reflect the organization’s renewed dedication to transparency and data-driven decision-making. These principles will be central to USA Triathlon’s new strategic plan, Elevate 2028: Focus Forward, which is set to be publicly released in the coming weeks.   

Elite Performance on the Global Stage 

U.S. Olympians and Paralympians shined bright at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, winning nine medals.  

At the Olympics, Team USA’s Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb teamed up to win the silver medal in the Mixed Relay — in dramatic fashion as the race came down to a photo finish at the tape. The U.S. has now won two Olympic silver medals in the Mixed Relay, which made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.  

Grace Norman, Hailey Danz and Chris Hammer each won gold medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, leading the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team, which won eight medals to lead all countries. The eight-medal performance is the best for any country in paratriathlon at a single Paralympic Games and the third straight Paralympic Games the U.S. has won the paratriathlon medal count.

In addition to the golds by Norman, Danz and Hammer, the U.S. Paralympic medalists included silver medalists Carson Clough, Mohamed Lahna and Kendall Gretsch, and bronze medalists Mark Barr and Allysa Seely.  

Beyond Paris, Knibb dominated long-course racing, winning the T100 Pro Series and securing her third consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title. Pearson made history by becoming the first U.S. male triathlete to win a World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) event since 2009 with his victory in Yokohama. 

Membership and Participation Trends 

USA Triathlon membership continued its upward trajectory post-COVID, with 302K+ active, unique members in 2024 — a growth of 1.6% over 2023, but still trailing pre-COVID numbers at 329K in 2019.  

While annual (Silver+) memberships have been in decline for 10-plus years, the increase in members in 2024 is primarily driven by new members, who are purchasing more one-day/single-race (Bronze) memberships. The mix of annual, multi-year, and one-day members reflects the organization’s commitment to serving a diverse community of athletes, from first-time racers to long-time competitors. 

USA Triathlon membership saw the most significant growth in two age demographics — 20-29 and 30-39 — signaling positive long-term opportunities for athletes with longevity in the sport. Membership for 20-29-year-olds increased by 10,000+ members from 2023 to 2024, while 30-39 membership is now the largest cohort of members, overtaking the 40-49 age group post-COVID starting in 2022. The 40-59 age groups showed a continued decline in 2024, following a 10-year-plus trend in 40-49 and a post-COVID trend for 50-59. 

Total adult participation (race finishes) has been declining since the peak of the sport in the early 2010’s. Despite some rebound since COVID, total adult participation numbers saw a slight dip from 287K in 2023 to 280K+ in 2024 among adult ranked competitive races. Within this, there are still positive signs with some key participation metrics increasing:  

• Larger average event and race sizes: The average number of participants per event (354) and per race (120) reached record highs, indicating stronger individual event engagement. 
• New athletes coming into sport: the sport is still attracting many new athletes each year: growth in membership is primarily driven by new members not seen before, accounting for nearly 50% of membership sales in 2024. 

The trends suggest a shift in how athletes engage with the sport, with a focus on quality event experiences, accessibility, and diverse race formats driving participation. 

Grassroots Racing in the U.S.  

USA Triathlon is continuing its focus on supporting adult event growth, which has been in decline since the sport peak in early 2010s. In 2024, USA Triathlon sanctioned 825 unique adult multisport events in the U.S. Youth events held steady in 2024 at 209 events. The constriction and elimination of adult events is the greatest risk to the overall sport and ecosystem. Supporting race directors and events is core to the go-forward focus for USA Triathlon.  

Despite this event constriction and risk, a strength of the sport is that on average each event is offering more race types than historical, with over 3,600 races at these events in 2024, an increase over 2023 and just trailing pre-COVID levels. 

Key drivers of this resurgence included: 

• Shorter-distance race expansion: More races incorporated sprint, super sprint, and relay formats, making triathlon more accessible to new athletes. 
• Diversification of race formats: Growth in aquathlon (run-swim-run), duathlon (run-bike-run), aquabike (swim-bike), gravel triathlon, and off-road races expanded multisport opportunities beyond traditional swim-bike-run races. 
• Steady youth racing engagement: Youth-focused racing remained strong in 2024, with 209 sanctioned youth events, reinforcing the next generation of triathletes.  
  

Team USA Age Group Success 

Age Group Team USA had an outstanding year at international competitions, winning: 

• 50 medals at the World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Townsville 
• 49 medals at the World Triathlon Age Group Championships in Torremolinos-Andalucia 
• 3 medals at the World Triathlon Long Distance Duathlon Championships in Zofingen 
  

Advancing the Sport Through Technology and Education 

In fall 2024, USA Triathlon launched a multi-year investment in data and technology to transform operations, enhance real-time analytics, and drive actionable insights. This evolution from retrospective analysis to a real-time insights model will enable USA Triathlon to track key metrics better, make informed decisions, elevate marketing and communications, and foster meaningful growth across the multisport ecosystem. By leveraging advanced technology and data-driven strategies, USA Triathlon is committed to serving all constituents and stakeholders more effectively, ensuring the continued advancement of triathlon and multisport. 

Philanthropy and Inclusion Initiatives 

The USA Triathlon Foundation raised $3.4 million, including $2.65 million in committed estate gifts, supporting initiatives that enhance youth participation and diversity in the sport. 

• 9,000+ kids were introduced to triathlon 
• $45,000 in donor pledges launched the USA Kids Tri program 
• $850,000 in grants supported the expansion of NCAA programs 
  

To view the full 2024 USA Triathlon Impact Report, visit www.usatriathlon.org/about.  

For media inquiries or questions, please reach out to communications@usatriathlon.org.