Triathlon and sport-science research measurably underrepresents women as participants — with a documented triathlon-specific sex-performance gap that tracks the imbalance
Interpretation
Cowley et al. (2021) quantified the data gap across 6 major sport-science journals 2014–2020: 63% of studies included both sexes, 31% were male-only, and only 6% were female-only, with 66% of all participants being male. Ose et al. (2025) updated the audit a decade later: some improvement (43.95% female participants by 2021–2023), but female-only studies remain at just 7.15% and only 5.6% of studies addressed menstrual status. Loosli et al. (2025) adds the triathlon-specific dimension: the performance sex gap is smallest in swim (~12%) and largest in run (~18%), and the review explicitly calls for more research on women-specific physiology in triathlon.
Practical implication
When citing population-level findings to female triathletes, flag the sex composition of the original study. The data gap doesn't mean the findings are wrong for women — it means the confidence level should be lower and individualisation more important.
Sources
3 sources, independently verified.
Audit of 6 sport-science journals 2014–2020: 63% included both sexes, 31% male-only, 6% female-only. Of 12.5 million participants, 66% were male and 34% female — a named data gap the authors label the 'invisible sportswomen' problem. The 6% female-only figure is the figure most directly cited in the women's triathlon research article.
AJSM 2025, PMID 39780766. Updated audit ten years on from the original sentinel study: 43.95% of all participants female (up from 39% in 2014), mean female proportion per study 40.22%; 7.15% female-only vs 18.6% male-only studies; only 5.6% of studies addressed menstrual status. Demonstrates incremental but incomplete progress over the decade.
Triathlon-specific sex-difference review: the performance sex gap is smallest in swim (~12%), rising to ~15% bike and ~18% run; IRONMAN sex gap roughly 8–15.8%. Calls for balanced research cohorts and more investigation of menstruation, PMS, pregnancy and childbirth effects specific to triathletes — grounding the abstract audit data in sport-specific outcomes.