{"id":12954,"date":"2022-03-28T17:12:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T15:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=96350"},"modified":"2022-03-28T17:25:20","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T15:25:20","slug":"vicky-holland-background-career-highlights-quotes","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/vicky-holland-background-career-highlights-quotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Vicky Holland: background, career highlights, quotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Nige Tassell\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 28 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Arguably one of British triathlon\u2019s greatest-ever competitors and ambassadors, few people get to achieve what Vicky Holland has in her sporting career. But, in a medal-heavy career, two particular achievements stand out. Here\u2019s what you should know about the three-time Olympian\u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who is Vicky Holland?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After a childhood as a competitive swimmer before taking up middle-distance running, triathlon always seemed to be the natural sport for Vicky Holland, but she didn\u2019t get into the sport until the second year of her degree at Loughborough University.<\/p>\n

She certainly made up for lost time. Not only was Holland the first British woman to win an Olympic medal in triathlon, she was also the first to combine the accolade with a world title.<\/p>\n

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Credit: Michael Steele\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

A late entrant to triathlon, Holland was also something of an even later bloomer within the sport. It took her five years of being on and around the podiums of World Triathlon Series events before she got to stand atop one, thanks to a victory in Cape Town in 2015<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

That was the start of a glorious few years. Although injury dictated that 2017 was pretty much a write-off, the season was bookended by the two most memorable years of Holland\u2019s competitive life.<\/p>\n

First came that Olympic medal, bronze in colour<\/strong><\/a> and secured in dramatic fashion when Holland outsprinted her best pal Non Stanford in Rio.<\/p>\n

The 2018 season was even more memorable as Holland emerged from a long injury lay-off with a dominant performance throughout the WTS series.<\/p>\n

Victories in Leeds, Hamburg and Chicago boosted her to world champion, a deserved reward for a career whose path has at times been undulating.<\/p>\n

It is testament to Holland\u2019s resolve and fortitude that, as the curtain begins to fall on her short-course professional career, she will forever be both world champion and Olympic medallist.<\/p>\n

How old is Vicky Holland?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Vicky Holland was born on 12 January 1986, making her 36 years old.<\/p>\n

Vicky Holland\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Holland celebrates her win at the 2020 Mooloolaba ITU Triathlon World Cup. Credit: Delly Carr\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

July 2010: A maiden top-five WTS finish in her first season<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In her first World Triathlon Series season among the elite corps, Holland follows up a top-10 finish on her debut in Sydney with fifth place in Hamburg. Less than a week later, she also bags sixth on the streets of London.<\/p>\n

May 2012: A strong showing in San Diego before the Olympics beckon<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After a disappointing 2011 season, a second top-five WTS finish, this time in the Californian sun, helps earn Holland one of the six berths for Team GB at London 2012. Finishing 26th in the capital, Holland\u2019s the second Brit home after fifth-placed Helen Jenkins.<\/p>\n

August 2012: A first world championship<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Holland joins up with Alistair Brownlee, Will Clarke and Non Stanford to earn Britain\u2019s mixed relay team a gold medal at the world championships in Stockholm. Two years later, Holland\u2019s part of the foursome that takes gold again.<\/p>\n

July 2014: Holland teams up for Glasgow gold<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Holland wins Commonwealth gold in the mixed realy, alongside teammates Jonny Brownlee, Jodie Stimpson and Ali Brownlee. Credit: Clive Rose\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The mixed relay event makes its debut at the Commonwealth Games and the English quartet of Holland, Jodie Stimpson and the Brownlee brothers storms to gold<\/strong><\/a>. With such a team, a win was never in question.<\/p>\n

April 2015: A belated first WTS race win<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Five years on from first competing in the WTS series, Holland registers her first WTS race victory in Cape Town, pulling away from Katie Zaferes of the USA and Switzerland\u2019s Nicola Spirig in the closing stages of the run.<\/p>\n

Despite another win in Edmonton<\/a><\/strong>, plus podium appearances in Hamburg and Chicago, Holland fails to make the top three overall in the series, finishing a respectable fourth.<\/p>\n

August 2016: Holland makes British Olympic history<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Vicky Holland beats Non Stanford to Olympic bronze at the 2016 Rio Games. Credit: Adam Pretty\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In her second Olympics, Holland makes history in Rio as the first British woman to win a triathlon medal at the Games.<\/p>\n

But her bronze \u2013 behind champion Gwen Jorgensen and silver medallist Spirig \u2013 only came after she had outsprinted her housemate Non Stanford<\/a><\/strong> on the Copacabana beachfront.<\/p>\n