In 1987, the triathlon department of TuS Xanten , founded the year before by the Xanten teacher Gerd Reinders, father of the later multiple German champion Ina Reinders (* 1979), took over the organization of the Nibelungen Triathlon.
The number of participants grew rapidly from the original 520 triathletes in 1987 - just two years later, a four-digit number of participants was counted in Xanten for the first time. In 1993 part of the running route had to be relocated and re-measured 24 hours before the start due to flooding. In 1996 the Nibelungen Triathlon was the first triathlon for Irish singer Joey Kelly , who the following year became the first person to take part in eight Ironman competitions within twelve months.
The event quickly became one of the larger triathlon events in Germany. As part of the Nibelungen Triathlon, numerous championships were held, such as the German Youth Championships in 1995 and 2001 as well as the Junior European Cup in 2001, the German Championship in the Elite Class in 1997 and the NRW Championships in 2002. Until 2003, the finish line was in the Archaeological Park , then he was moved to the lido. The Nibelungen Triathlon has also been one of five competitions of the men's regional league and the women's regional league and regional league since 2000 in the division of the North Rhine-Westphalian Triathlon Association.
After the 25th anniversary of the event in 2011, Gerd Reinders handed over the organization to a team of four from TuS Xanten, which also includes Ina Reinders' brother, Yves Reinders.
The Nibelungen Triathlon is held in three classes, the Olympic distance , the so-called Draxi distance and the relay competition . Eligibility for the first-mentioned distances is anyone who has reached the age of 20 in the calendar year of the current competition.
In 2005, 2006 and again in 2014 the triathlon world champion and Hawaii winner Faris Al-Sultan (* 1978) competed in Xanten and won the race three times. In 2013, the swimming sub-discipline had to be canceled due to blue-green algae contamination of the lake and the race was instead held as a duathlon. In 2014 the 30th edition was celebrated here.
The last races took place here on September 1st, 2019 and around 1,600 athletes took part in the 2019 Nibelungen Triathlon. The competition for 2020 had to be canceled because it was not possible to take place after construction work and diversions on the streets in the area.
Competition distances
Olympic distance (short distance)
1.5 km swim over a turning point in the Xanten North and South Seas
42 km of cycling in five laps over a turning point route around the leisure center; Helmet compulsory and slipstream driving ban
10 km run in two laps over a turning point route around the leisure center
