Set in 1996 by Simon Lessing, he broke the world record in the World Championship triathlon (Olympic distance) with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 50 seconds at Cleveland. This record stands as of 2008. Due to the variety in courses during the olympic games, the world record is not official, however Simon Whitfeild holds the unofficial olympic record for triathlon at 1:48:24.02.