How does an athlete earn legendary status? To triumph over any competitor in any locale is one way. To that end, Australian Michellie Jones is certainly a true legend. She’s been called the best triathlete in the world, male or female. Period. And it’s hard to dispute; with wins at every distance, over any course, against any competitor, Jones has been come out victorious.

If there was a race in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990, Jones was doing it. In the early 90s MJ was dominating short-course racing. In 1996 she won the Xterra mountain bike triathlon World Championship. On the draft-legal ITU race circuit, Jones was dominant, amassing 12 World Cup victories and claiming eight ITU World Championship medals, with two of them being gold-medal wins. 

Expanding her resume, Jones made her way to the United States to test herself in some of the sport’s legendary non-drafting events. The result? Eight Escape from Alcatraz wins, Seven Chicago Triathlon victories. Seven St. Anthony’s Triathlon wins, the Chicago Triathlon, the Los Angeles Triathlon. With her balanced attack, Jones added new gems to her gilded crown. One proud moment: earning a silver medal during triathlon’s Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000, and earning it in her homeland. 

And most recently, Jones morphed yet again. After an illustrious short course career, Jones shifted gears, seguing to a distance that needs no introduction: Ironman.  

After successful forays into long course racing with several wins at the Half Ironman distance, she was ready to dive in with both feet. The preeminent distance known for its length — a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile marathon run — is oft seen as the true definition of endurance.  

Jones made her debut in 2005 winning her first Ironman at Ironman Florida, setting the stage for her debut at the distance world championship event: the storied Hawaii Ironman. The foreboding setting along the Kohala Coast wilts all but the strongest competitors. A win in this environment under the oppressively hot, windy, taxing conditions the day marks an athlete as a true champion in the face of true duress. 

Her 2006 Kona debut was nothing less than stunning; driving solo at the front of the race all day, Jones crossed the finish line in 9;18;31 a resounding victory in her first attempt. Another set of world champion rainbow stripes, at yet another distance. The win helped her earn her seventh Triathlete magazine Triathlete of the Year honor. 

With over 160 wins (and counting) under her belt, Jones continues to grow the legend….