Sport & ContestGreek → English
Duathlon
/djuːˈæθlɒn/noun
An endurance race combining running and cycling, usually run-bike-run.
The Greek roots
ἆθλον
âthlon
contest, prize
Literally: “two contests”
Follow a root:ἆθλον10 words
The story of the word
Half Latin, half Greek: du- comes from Latin duo, while -athlon is the ἆθλον that also sits inside pentathlon and athlete. The sport was first called a biathlon, but that name already belonged to the winter skiing-and-shooting event, so organisers switched to duathlon in the late 1980s. Ancient Greek kept ἆθλον for the prize itself and ἆθλος for the struggle that earned it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → modern sporting coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1980s
Same family
triathlonpentathlondecathlonathlete
In a sentence
She entered the winter duathlon because the lake was too cold for the swim leg.