Lucy Hall

Olympian Lucy Hall made the transition from shorter distances to middle-distance triathlon in 2019, and she did so with real promise.

After finishing sixth on debut over the distance at IRONMAN 70.3 Lahti in June, the Leicester star took second at IRONMAN Dun Laoghaire 70.3 on the UK & Ireland tour and also claimed a pair of fourth places at Bahrain and Lanzarote.

Lucy first took up triathlon after watching her father race at Olympic distances, and competed in her first event at the tender age of 8. She has loved it ever since!

Hall had American downhill skier Lindsay Vonn as one of her heroes growing up, but given her fear of heights it’s not surprising she followed in the footsteps of her other sporting idols Joe Pavey and Helen Jenkins instead!

Making the British Olympic team for London 2012 at the age of just 20 - and being the youngest on the start line in the process - is something that Lucy says will forever be a key part of her legacy. She later finished 11th at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The high of London 2012 came just a year after her biggest embarrassment - being knocked off her bike by a dog during the Junior World Championships in Beijing.

Lucy’s most painful triathlon memory - at the European U23 Championships in Banyoles in 2016 - illustrates her ability to keep fighting when the chips are down.

“Turns out I was racing on a stress fracture in my hip,” she says.

“I did the whole race solo and managed to just hold on to take the win. I crossed the finish line and immediately got cramp in both legs. The next I couldn’t walk, I had an MRI scan and the doctors found a stress fracture in my lessor trochanter.”

Lucy, who says St Moritz is her idea of the ideal training location, spends most of her time preparing for races with Jess Learmonth, Tom Bishop, Alex Yee and Mark Buckingham.

Known as ‘The Mermaid’ for her swimming prowess, Hall does not really have a least favourite discipline, explaining: “Swimming will always be something I enjoy. The great thing about triathlon is that you never get bored exploring trails and new riding loops is part of the fun.”