Triathlon had its Summer Olympics debut at the 2000 Games, in Sydney, when men's and women's individual events were first held, and has been contested since then.

The most successful and the most decorated[1] triathlete in Olympic history is Alex Yee from Great Britain, with two gold medals, one silver and one bronze across two Games (2020 and 2024).

Only one athlete, Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee, has ever won the individual Olympic triathlon twice (in 2012 and 2016), making him the most successful individual Olympic triathlete as of 2024, while his brother Jonathan Brownlee uniquely won all three different medals in three consecutive Games, bronze in 2012 and silver in 2016 in the individual event behind brother Alistair, and finally a gold in the inaugural team relay in 2020, thus making him at the time the most decorated Olympic triathlete, and the first three-time medalist, later joined by British team-mates Yee (who then surpassed him with four medals) and Georgia Taylor-Brown, the most successful and most decorated female Olympic triathlete with three medals, one of each colour.

Jonathon Brownlee, Leo Bergere of France in 2024 and Michelle Jones of Australia in Sydney in 2004 have also won medals at home Games.

Both Germany and Great Britain have won the men's individual and mixed relay events at least once, but neither at the same Games.

16 nations have split the forty-eight medals awarded in the triathlon events, accurate as of the conclusion of the 2024 Olympic Games.

Qualification spots in the triathlon are allotted to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) rather than to individual athletes.

Three more spots go to the top three triathletes of the most recent Triathlon World Championships, though any athlete that won a regional tournament is skipped in that determination.