The USOC’s self-appointment as Michael Phelps’ mentor and confessor—after exercising its role as judge in an affair over which it has debatable jurisdiction—demonstrates that its approach to sports governance is reminiscent of the era of the AAU and Olan Cassell.

As Team Challenge expands from Roth to New Zealand, France and Spain, can a worldwide series be far behind? How Roth rose from the ashes after the split with WTC and carefully crafted an alternative to Ironman.

Craig Alexander shook off the cobwebs from a three-month post-Kona hiatus with a swift 1:12:07 run to outhoof a stellar field, and ITU star Samantha Warriner outdueled Yvonne Van Vlerken to win Geelong 70.3

In this edition of “What We Have Noticed,” slowtwitch is taking a closer look at the G Pro trainer from Alter-G, goggles from blueseventy, glasses from Rudy Project and a traveling alarm by Reliance Control.

When Dirk Aschmoneit won Ironman New Zealand in 1991 he was the first German to win an Ironman. He retired in 1994 because of injuries but recently his name appeared again in triathlon results. Slowtwitch checked in with him.

Timothy Carlson’s pictures chronicle the clash of generations in part 3 of Ironman Hawaii Photo Galleries of the winners, movers and shakers 2006-2008.

Last year, Sheila Taormina became the first woman to make the Olympics in three sports – swimming in 1996, triathlon in 2000 and 2004, and modern pentathlon in 2008. Before her USAT Hall of Fame induction, Taormina reflected on the meaning of her sporting career.

At age 36, the three-time Ironman winner is still seeking the perfect balance between his cycling prowess and a fast run on the Queen K. One step to finding that faster run is taking care of detail work on bike fit.

Du Nats is on April 26, in Richmond, VA, to qualify a team for Du Worlds down the road in North Carolina, this Sept. In honor of this (roughly) twice a decade occasion, here’s the Du Nats Challenge, based on aerobic points earned.

Melvin Monroe Stewart was one of the greatest butterfly swimmers in the late 80s and early 90’s and held the 200m fly world record from January 1991 through June of 1995. The man known as Gold Medal Mel spoke to slowtwitch.

We have come across new goggles from Aquasphere, a light system from Blackburn Design, ultralight brakes from Bontrager and new nutrition from First Endurance.

If you live in the Midwest, here is your chance to escape the harsh winter and get psyched for the upcoming season. This coming weekend you can attend the 2009 Great Lakes Multisport & Running Expo in Milwaukee, WI.

Karen Smyers looks back at a career that brought her much more than three ITU World Titles, an Ironman World Championship, seven US elite titles, two Pan Am golds and the Hall of Fame,

More Ironman Hawaii winner images ranging from Tim DeBoom in 2001 to Faris Al Sultan in 2005, bookending Natascha Badmann’s last four Kona wins.

Chris Carmichael gives Slowtwitch readers insight into Lance Armstrong, his Ironman plans, and his fitness as we watch the triathlete turned 7-time TdF winner train in Kona, just before his return to cycling action in Australia.

USA Triathlon tabs Jon Noll, Verne Scott, the late Judy Flannery, Sheila Taormina and Karen Smyers for its first Hall of Fame class.

If you’re a 180 pound triathlete, a 6 ounce shoe is probably out. But if you’re a 145 pounder with a good footfall, an 8 ounce shoe might be in. Here’s our first round of overviews of 09’s racing flats.

The flip side of our red hot demographic is that “entry level” in triathlon does not start at the entry level. Here’s our $1500-and-up look at tri bikes for 09, starting with Cervelo, Felt and QR.

An exceptional image selection of Ironman Hawaii winners dating back to 1993.

Saul Raisin is juggling quite a few things these days. He is managing his raisinhope foundation, is heavily involved with the Wounded Warrior project, and trains like possessed for an Ironman. He shared some of his thoughts with slowtwitch.

Today we introduce you to triathlon shoes from Scott USA, a trainer from CycleOps, a saddle from John Cobb, a beverage from NUUN and a very interesting concept light system.

Chris McDonald grabbed the lead at the 2009 Challenge Wanaka 30km into the bike and in the end won by 7 minutes. Gina Ferguson broke her previous course record by 5 minutes to take the women’s race.

Oscar Galindez held off a tough challenge from Ronaldo Colucci to win the 2009 Pucon triathlon. Heather Gollnick led a trio of American women as she defended her title.

Raynard Tissink dominated the 2009 Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa in a time of 4:02:04. In the women’s race, Lucie Zelenkova was virtually unchallenged as she grabbed her title in 4:46:40.