The Official 2026 Public Vote

Your Vote Shapes the Hall

Explore the official candidates and cast your votes for the individuals you believe deserve a place in the United States Athletics Hall of Fame.

Mark Allen

  • Contest: The US Athletics Hall of Fame - Athletes 2026
  • Embed from Getty Images
  • Sport(s): Triathlon
  • Statistics & Accolades: 6 World Championship Gold Medals (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 & 1995)
    2 World Championship Silver Medals (1986 & 1987)
    1 World Championship Bronze Medal (1983)
    1 ITU World Championship (1989)
    Member of the Ironman Hall of Fame
  • Every sport needs a rivalry to help it grow. In the young sport of the triathlon, the first one of note was between Dave Scott and his younger challenger, Mark Allen, who won a record six Ironman World Championships.
    Allen first competed in the Ironman World Championship in 1983, finishing third. He was steadily improving, finishing second in 1986 and 1987. Three flat tires in 1989 plummeted Allen to fifth, but he was a rising star in the sport. In 1989, he returned to Kona to rechallenge Scott, but this time the result would be different.
    Broadcast on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the showdown between the two exceeded expectations. Allen overtook Scott late in the marathon portion, and he shattered Scott’s previous record by over eighteen minutes, crowning a new king of the sport. The “Iron War” between the two raised the sport to new heights, becoming a global phenomenon.
    Allen went on to win in Hawaii five more times in the 1990s, tying Scott with his sixth win in 1995. ESPN would call him the greatest endurance athlete of all-time, praise that doesn't come much higher.
    We are proud to nominate Mark Allen for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.
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