Carolin Lehrieder

Before turning professional in 2014, Carolin had already demonstrated her potential by winning her age group at IRONMAN Frankfurt in 2013 and then earning a bronze medal at the World Championship in Kona.

Those stellar performances provided the perfect platform to move to the elite ranks, and she took her maiden podium at the Chiemsee Triathlon in her native Germany in 2014. A string of top-10 finishes then followed on the IRONMAN and Challenge circuits between 2015 and 2018.

The highlight of those years was a return to Chiemsee 2018 to record her first professional victory.

Further success followed during 2019 with second places at both Challenge Taiwan and Chiemsee, before Carolin claimed her maiden professional victory on the IRONMAN circuit with a win at Emilia-Romagna in Italy.

Carolin played basketball at a high level (Michael Jordan was her hero growing up) before first getting into triathlon via her family, something which is a strong thread in the sport.

She says: “When I cheered on my dad at different triathlons, I came up with the idea to also try it once.

“So I started to train for swimming and did my first race two weeks after I got my road bike at the age of 18. Little did I know how that would end up one day.”

Lehrieder, who trains with fellow professionals Daniela Bleymehl and Maja Stage Nielsen, says she is proud of being able to see the positive side of anything the “rollercoaster” of life can throw at her.

In terms of the triathlon disciplines, she says: “I am very fortunate that I really love all three. But if I had to choose only one sport it would be running because I simply feel so satisfied after a good hard session”.

Carolin has good advice for any budding triathletes, stressing the importance of consistency in training. When it comes to raceday meanwhile, the mantra is “it ain’t over until the finish line!”