Are triathletes morning people?

With three sports to train for many triathletes resort to training early in the morning. However is it right to generalize and say “triathletes are morning people?” Or does the sport condition competitors to be “morning” people?

A study conducted by Lastella et al. (2016) looked at this very topic. Lastella et al. had 88 male and 26 female elite athletes across a variety of sports, take questionnaires and sleep scales to determine if there was any relationship between the chronotypes (sleep schedules) of athletes and their sports. They hypothesized that athletes self-select athletic events that suit their sleep schedules.

Following an analysis of the data gathered, the author’s confirmed their hypothesis. Concluding that it is likely athletes chose sports based not only on their talents but also on their sleep schedules.

Realistically, there are many other external factors such as socioeconomic status and environment that likely interfere with this statement. However, this study does raise an interesting thought that it is likely morning people will gravitate to sports such as triathlon.

Next question then, are morning people better triathlete?