34-year-old Jan Frodeno's milestone performance came at the Challenge Roth event near Nuremberg in Southern Germany. He swam 3.86 kilometers, cycled 180 kilometers and ran 42.195 kilometers in only 7 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds.

That shattered the old record of 7:41:33 set by Andreas Raelert in 2011.

"I have pains running up and down throughout my entire body," Frodeno said after the event. "It was a tough, tough trek. I'll definitely sleep well tonight."

Frodeno took the lead over his main rival Nils Frommhold during the swimming and extended that advantage in the cycling despite falling on kilometer 120. Frodeno was also almost struck by a distracted motorist just before commencing his run.

But he put those near disasters behind him to set the new world standard

"The race really hurt, but no one gives you a record," Frodeno told Bavarian radio. "Now I just want a chair. I really need to sit down."

Britain's Joe Skipper was second on the day ahead of Frommhold.