World U23 champion Kate Waugh is now mixing it in the senior ranks, and is already producing some head-turning results. Here’s everything you need to know about the rising British star’s career to date…

By Nige Tassell

Published: Tuesday, 04 July 2023 at 12:00 am

---

Having collected a haul of medals since her childhood, including European and world golds, the time is right for GB triathlete Kate Waugh to make a real mark on the elite scene.

Who is Kate Waugh?

Kate Waugh was an early adopter when it came to triathlon. She competed in her first race at the age of eight and by the time she was 15, she already had a European title under her belt. The following decade would provide a multitude of medals for the athlete from Gateshead.

That first European crown was won as part of the British youth women’s relay squad in 2014, and was followed two years later by another, this time in the mixed junior relay.

Twelve months later, Waugh’s third European gold was arguably her most satisfying, gained in the individual junior women’s race in Kitzbühel.

But Europe was not enough for the Geordie, and two world titles would follow in time. Both came during the 2022 season.

The first arrived in Hamburg in July as what was effectively a reserve British mixed relay quartet (the highest-ranked racers were busy with Commonwealth Games preparation) took a surprise gold.

The second was achieved in November as Waugh strode to victory in the U23 women’s race at the WTCS Finals in Abu Dhabi.

A first WTCS top-five finish followed in May 2023, a strong foothold for Waugh as she attempts to secure a place among the top tier of the sport’s elite.

Still only 24, but with oodles of big-race experience in her locker, her climb into the upper echelons of the world rankings is surely a matter of when, not if.

How old is Kate Waugh?

Kate Waugh was born on 13 February 1999, making her 24 years of age.

Kate Waugh’s career highlights

June 2014: European champ at 15

Having begun her triathlon career at the age of eight, Waugh’s first title arrives in her mid-teens. It’s a significant one too: she becomes a European champion, as part of the victorious British youth women’s relay quartet in the Russian city of Penza.

July 2015: Three is the magic number

Waugh’s most significant individual result to date is achieved at a junior European Cup race in Holten in the Netherlands where she finishes third behind the American winner Taylor Knibb.

Later that month, a return to the European championships yields a silver in the youth women’s relay.

April 2016: Moving on up

Now competing as a junior woman, Waugh takes second place in a European Cup race in Quarteira, Portugal, beaten only by the older, more experienced Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand.

May 2016: Golden girl

More Portugal-based success comes Waugh’s way the following month, when she takes her second European title in Lisbon, this time in the mixed junior relay. It’s more than adequate compensation for her DNF in the women’s individual race the day before.

June 2017: First individual European title

A third European crown arrives the following spring – and this time she doesn’t have to share it with her team-mates. She takes gold in the junior women’s race in Kitzbühel, holding off the challenge of the Dane, Sif Bendix Madsen.

September 2017: Silver for a sterling performance

Still only 18, still only a junior, Waugh adds another major medal to her collection, taking silver in the junior race at the ITU Grand Final in Rotterdam. The holder of several European titles, only her old adversary Taylor Knibb separates her from her first world champs gold.

June 2019: First podium as an elite

Waugh takes her first top-three finish in the elite ranks with bronze in a World Cup race in the newly renamed Kazakhstan capital of Nur-Sultan. She upgrades to an elite silver two months later in a European Cup sprint race in Malmö.

September 2019: Silver lining in Switzerland

Having just missed out on a medal in the U23 World Champs two days earlier at the ITU Grand Final in Lausanne, Waugh steps onto the podium to collect a world champs’ silver as part of the GB mixed U23/junior relay squad.

September 2021: First World Series top 10

Waugh starts to gain a foothold in WTCS racing and finishes ninth in Hamburg, the first time she’s breached the sacred top 10. She’s the youngest competitor in the top 20.

July 2022: A maiden world title

With the absolute cream of British Olympic-distance talent otherwise engaged in deep preparation for the Commonwealth Games later in the month, Waugh joins a largely unrecognisable elite mixed relay squad at the world champs in Hamburg.

Hopeful that they might just sneak into the podium places, the British quartet raise numerous eyebrows by taking gold ahead of a more experienced Australian team. Waugh leads them home to collect her first world title.

November 2022: Top of the world… again

Waugh doesn’t have to wait long for a second world crown. At the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi, she scores a comfortable win in the U23 women’s race, easing to victory ahead of Germany’s Annika Koch and Italy’s Bianca Seregni.

May 2023: First WTCS top five

Waugh continues her upward progression by finishing in the top five of a WTCS race for the first time. Her compatriot Sophie Coldwell wins in Yokohama, but Waugh does take the scalp of another Brit, the much-decorated Olympian Georgia Taylor-Brown.

Kate Waugh in quotes

On winning the world title in July 2022 as part of an inexperienced British mixed relay squad: “All of us were genuinely blown away that we managed to win. We were a young team and a top-five would have been a great show for us.”

On following that up with U23 world championship success four months later: “I’d have been disappointed with anything other than gold because it was something I’d written down as my biggest goal of the year. It was an amazing feeling to execute that and become a world champion.”

On racing in Super League competition: “It’s super-fast, super-hard, and if you make a mistake, you really pay for it. I think it really primes and dials you for WTCS racing.”

What’s next for Kate Waugh?

Waugh has been throwing herself into the 2023 WTCS season in order to deepen her experience and, ideally, to give her a taste of the podium in that particular series. “I’m no longer an U23,” she says. “I’m now mixing with the big girls.”

World Cup races are also high on the agenda to accrue points to be in with a sniff of a berth on the UK Olympic squad for Paris 2024. For such recognition, she obviously faces the stiffest of competition.

Top image credit: World Triathlon

---