The Man Who Made Triathlon

Driven and divisive, Les McDonald, the controversial long-time leader of swim, bike, run has left a global sport with an Olympic legacy

- Tim​ Heming

A pugnacious communist and proud feminist from coal mining roots in the north east should go down as the most influential figure in triathlon history. “Les McDonald was unique,” Sarah Springman, the former president of British Triathlon, says. “A man who pursued his vision almost to the exclusion of everything else.”

It’s no exaggeration to say this naturalised Canadian, who was raised in Felling upon Tyne, near Newcastle, revolutionised multi-sport, both in governance, with the formation of the International Triathlon Union, and in competition, as swim, bike, run abandoned its non-drafting origins in a quest for Olympic inclusion.