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| Birth name | Erin Margaret Baker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 May 1961 Kaiapoi, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Triathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Erin Margaret Baker MBE (born 23 May 1961) is a former New Zealand triathlete. She won many world championship and Ironman titles.
Baker was born in 1961 in Kaiapoi, New Zealand. Upon the suggestion by her mother, Mary, Baker began running competitively at age 15 and showed ability right from the start. "I remember the first day Erin competed in a cross-country race. I was waiting for her to come in thinking God, she won't be very pleased because she hasn’t done very well. In fact, I missed her crossing the finish line a quarter of an hour earlier, in first place." [1]
Baker is one of eight children. Her siblings include Philippa Baker (New Zealand rower and 1991 & 1994 Halberg award winner) and Kathy and Maureen who were both national titlists in swimming and aerobics. [2]
Baker was originally coached by John Hellemans but controlled and developed her successful career by self-training, "I was self-trained. I just trained as much as my body would handle, and that was a shit load. I trained and trained, and I trained more if I had time. I never got injured so I would often do more in case somebody else was training while I was resting". [3]
In 1981 she was convicted of throwing explosive devices while protesting during the South African Rugby team tour of New Zealand. This act prevented her from entering the United States for several years, restricting her from competing in any American competitions. [1] Baker was also known for her protests at the Hawaii Ironman competitions when she rebelled against the notion of the winner of the men's division receiving a car and the women's division winner receiving nothing for her efforts. She voiced her opinions on numerous occasions and as a result was well known as a controversial athlete. [4]
She finished her triathlon career in 1994 with a record of 104 wins from 121 triathlons entered. [2]
Baker was named "Triathlete of the decade" by American magazine Triathlete. The magazine commented on her success by saying, "We’ve stopped trying to figure Erin out, we just accept her as the best female triathlete that ever lived". [1]
In the 1993 New Year Honours, Baker was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services as a triathlete. [5]
Baker now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with her husband and fellow triathlete Scott Molina. [6] Together she and Molina (nicknamed Skid) have two children.
Baker has also served as a councillor on Christchurch City Council (resigned January 2004 [7] ), and has served on Canterbury District Health Board and on the boards of Jade Stadium Ltd and Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing Ltd. [8]
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the disciplines included. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς, 'three', and ἆθλος, 'competition'.
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.2 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.2 km) run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles (226.3 km). It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.
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The Ironman World Championship is a triathlon held annually in Hawaii, United States from 1978 to 2022, with no race in 2020 and an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification races held throughout the world. From 2023, the Men's and Women's Ironman World Championships were separated with one at Kona and the other hosted at another venue.
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Britta Martin is a German born, New Zealand based professional triathlete and multiple winner of Ironman distance races all over the world.
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Katrina Matthews is an English professional triathlete who races in non-drafting, long-distance events. Major results include second places at the 2021 Ironman World Championship in Utah, USA, the 2024 Ironman World Championship in Nice, France, and the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Lahti, Finland. She was a member of the BMC Pro triathlon team 2020–2022 and is a physiotherapist working for the British Army.
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