{"id":23827,"date":"2023-06-26T11:58:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T09:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.220triathlon.com\/?p=98232"},"modified":"2023-06-29T14:40:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T12:40:06","slug":"chrissie-wellington-background-career-highlights-quotes","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/rss_feed\/chrissie-wellington-background-career-highlights-quotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Chrissie Wellington: Background, career highlights, quotes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chrissie Wellington was the first British female superstar of triathlon, remaining unbeaten across the iron distance until her retirement in 2012. Here’s everything you need to know about the four-time Kona queen\u2026 <\/p>

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

Published: Monday, 26 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Having never been beaten in an Ironman-distance event, Chrissie Wellington wrote a new chapter in the history of women\u2019s triathlon. Multiple world titles, multiple world and course records, and one emphatic, undented reputation\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who is Chrissie Wellington?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\""Chrissie\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Chrissie Wellington wins the 2007 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. (Credit: Rich Cruse)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In short, Britain\u2019s Chrissie Wellington is one of the the greatest female Ironman triathletes of this century \u2013 and almost certainly ever.<\/p>\n

Between 2007 and 2011, she absolutely dominated the sport, grabbing gold medals every time she competed, and often leaving smashed record in her wake.<\/p>\n

Wellington may have refined Ironman racing for women, but her destiny was far from pre-ordained.<\/p>\n

She was still an amateur at the age of 29 when, having won her age-group at the ITU worlds in 2006, she jacked in her day job in the civil service for a life in the water and on the tarmac. As career changes go, few can ever have been so well-judged.<\/p>\n

Over the next five years, Wellington was crowned Ironman world champion on no fewer than four occasions (only missing one trip to Kona in 2010 through illness).<\/p>\n

Indeed, throughout her long-course racing career, she won all 10 Ironman competitions she entered. Add to that her trio of Challenge Roth titles and that means Wellington was never beaten in a full-distance race.<\/p>\n

Many of these 13 triumphs were also record-breaking performances, whether setting new course records or world bests.<\/p>\n

Her fourth and final Kona title, won in 2011 despite crippling injuries from a recent bike crash, was arguably her crowning glory.<\/p>\n

This unblemished race record is an extraordinary achievement, one that her former coach Brett Sutton rightly likened to the dominance of Michael Phelps in swimming or Haile Gebrselassie in track running.<\/p>\n

Having decided to take a break in 2012 \u2013 during which time she wrote a Sunday Times<\/em> bestselling book and commentated on the London Olympics for the BBC \u2013 Wellington decided to make her absence from Ironman competition a permanent one<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

That Ironman race record would now be unsullied forever.<\/p>\n

One further medal did come her way, though, when the MBE she was awarded in 2010 was upgraded to an OBE six years later.<\/p>\n

How old is Chrissie Wellington?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chrissie Wellington was born on 18 February 1977, making her 46 years of age.<\/p>\n

Chrissie Wellington\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\""PORT\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Chrissie Wellington rolls across the finish line in first place at the 2009 Ironman Australia, in Port Macquarie, Australia. (Credit: Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

September 2006: The first of many world titles<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""2nd\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Chrissie Wellington on her way to victory at the 2006 ITU World Age Group Championship, in Lausanne, Switzerland. (Credit: Nigel Farrow)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

As a sign of the dominance yet to come, Wellington bags her first world title when she cruises to victory in the female 25-29 age group at the ITU world championships in Lausanne. The success helps to persuade her to trade in her civil service job for life as a professional triathlete.<\/p>\n

October 2007: Ironman debut = Ironman triumph<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\""Chrissie\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Chrissie Wellington wins Ironman Korea<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Having won the very first Ironman event she\u2019s entered (IM Korea in August), Wellington takes the Ironman world crown at her first attempt \u2013 and within a year of turning pro.<\/p>\n