Stephen Kilshaw

Veteran Canadian Stephen Kilshaw is regular on the start line at IRONMAN 70.3 and IRONMAN events, competing since his debut in Texas in 2016.

Prior to his transition into middle and long-distance triathlons, Stephen had competed on the ITU circuit between 2005 and 2008. He then earned back-to-back victories at the Shawnigan Lake Triathlon in 2009 and 2010.

However, 'Stevo’ has found himself more comfortable with the longer race formats, as showcased in his form on the IRONMAN circuit, earning seven top-five finishes between 2016-2019, with two podiums at Mont-Tremblant (2016) and 70.3 Traverse City (2019).

Stephen also achieved victory over the Olympic distance at the 2017 Santa Cruz Triathlon.

Stephen's biggest rival is a peculiar one. Instead of selecting one of his fellow competitors, or himself, he suggests his biggest rival is the sun.

His heroes growing up were Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael - together the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although he didn’t mention their leader Splinter.

When speaking about his legacy, 'Stevo’ says his is “a classic family sedan, maroon, 4-door, and rusted around the wheel well,” and when asked about his most embarrassing moment he suggests it is yet to come...

Stephen says he trains with his baby son McKinlay, who he tells us has a functional threshold power (FTP) of 900 watts.

Away from the sport of triathlon, ‘Stevo’ enjoys writing poems, practices the art of meditation and has quite a philosophical view on the universe. One of his quirks involves him using hockey tape on the handlebars of his bike to make it easier to grip.

The best advice 'Stevo’ has received in his career to date was: “I don’t care if you tie your water bottle onto your bike with a string, just drink it”.