Female triathletes first entered the national consciousness when television viewers saw Julie Moss's dramatic finish of the 1982 Ironman, the sport's premiere event. Shaking and exhausted, Moss literally crawled across the finish line, shouting away all assistance. The Triathletes is author Jeff Cook's search for what drives some of the sport's top competitors: Paula Newby-Fraser, the enigmatic South African who, despite her disdain for arduous training, is a constant champion and darling of corporate sponsors; Jan Ripple, a mother of three in her mid-thirties, struggling to meet the conflicting demands of her family and her chosen sport; Kirsten Hanssen, a petite born-again Christian who "races for the Lord" and nearly destroys her body in the process; and Julie Wilson, a shy, quiet woman from Idaho with a knack for placing just out of the money. For Julie, each race becomes a matter of economic survival.What emerges from these individual profiles is a larger portrait of what it means to be a woman in the world of sports. Facing discrimination and stereotyping, forced to come to grips with issues of femininity, body image, family, and the economic demands of athletic competition away from sports' center stage, the triathlon is an uphill race for female competitors. Remarkably, a few are able to make it to the top. This is their story. Read Less