Kate Burley, a PhD student at Bath, has won a bronze medal in the recent World Triathlon Championships held in Beijing.
She represented Great Britain in the 20 to 24 year old age group and finished in third place overall, achieving the best GB time for her group.
She completed the 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run in 2 hours 24 minutes.
Kate, aged 23, is in the second year of completing a PhD in the Department of Biology & Biochemistry, and qualified for the World Championships after success in the national triathlon competitions.
Kate took up triathlon as a hobby while she studied for her first degree at Bath and fell in love with the sport. She says her level of success has taken her by surprise: “I entered Beijing to see how I’d do and to try my best. Winning a bronze medal came as a complete shock.
“The scale of the competition was amazing and it was a brilliant experience. I wasn’t sure what to expect competing at that level, but everyone was really friendly.”
Kate currently trains for about six hours a week, swimming with at the Sports Training Village with the Bath Amphibians, cycling to campus several times a week from her home in Holcombe, and fitting in runs at the weekend.
She swam competitively at school so says she is used to making time for sport, and that her training helps to make her more efficient at work.
Kate’s PhD supervisor, Dr Will Wood added: “This is a fantastic achievement by Kate and made all the more impressive by her ability to juggle her triathlon commitments with her PhD research. We are all very proud of her in the Wood lab.”
Kate is hoping to qualify for next year’s World Championships in Auckland and is now looking ahead to the event: “As I didn’t know I’d do so well I haven’t got my season planned yet. I’m really looking forward to next year though and I know I’ve got a lot of work to do.”