Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nickname(s) | Hoffi, Superbird | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Louth, England | 9 March 1978|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Great Britain Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turned pro | 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Cliff English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leanda Cave (born 9 March 1978 in Louth, England) is a retired British triathlete. Cave is the 2002 World Triathlon Champion and the 2012 Ironman Triathlon and Ironman 70.3 World Champion, the first woman in the history of the sport to win both titles in the same year. [1] Cave competed internationally for Wales and Great Britain.
Cave was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, England. At the age of four Cave's parents (her father was a carpenter) migrated to Queensland, Australia, where she went to school. Returning to England, as her mother is Welsh, she chose to represent Wales. Growing up Cave swam, ran cross country and was a surf lifeguard.[ citation needed ]
In February 2013, Cave was diagnosed with skin cancer. [2]
Cave entered her first triathlon at the encouragement of her sister, who already participated in them. [3]
In 2001 Cave became European Under-23 champion. A year later she would internationally break through at the senior level as she won the silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. She won another silver medal at the European Championships, then had greater success when she took the gold and the World title in Cancún, Mexico in November 2002. [4] In 2002, she was nominated for the Welsh Sports Personality of the Year Award. [5]
Cave struggled with injury in 2003 and was unable to defend her world title, [6] although she did take part in the BBC series Superstars . [7]
Cave won her second world title in 2007 at the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Lorient, France. On 28 March 2008, at the Ford Ironman 70.3 California triathlon, Cave came in third place behind Erika Csomor and Mirinda Carfrae. At the 2010 Ironman World Championship 70.3, she took second place.
On 30 April 2011, Cave won the Wildflower Long Course triathlon held at Lake San Antonio, California. [8] She also has won the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco, most recently on 10 June 2012. Later that year she won her first Ironman event at Ironman Arizona.
On 9 September 2012, at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, Cave came in first place. On 13 October 2012, at the Ironman World Championship, Cave came in first place. About 3 miles from the finish, Cave overtook Switzerland's Caroline Steffen who had held the lead in the run from the start and then went on to win the race. By winning both the 70.3 world championship and the Ironman World Championship in the same year, Cave became the first woman to ever achieve the 'double'. Australia's Craig Alexander accomplished this feat on the men's side in 2011. [9]
Cave struggled with injury in 2013 and though she made the start line in both events, she finished 12th in both the 70.3 and Ironman World Championships.
In 2014, Cave started the year focusing on short course triathlons in a bid to make the Team Wales Commonwealth Games Squad, which despite a series of good results in qualifying competitions, including a win at Valparaiso ITU World Cup on 30 March 2014, ended with her non-selection for the games. [10]
Cave won Ironman Sweden 2014, finishing with the fastest times in all three disciplines. [11]
Simon Christopher Lessing, MBE, is a British triathlete who won five International Triathlon Union (ITU) world titles. He also won races at 70.3, ITU long distance and Ironman-distance events. He set an Olympic-distance world record in 1996, and is noted for his 2004 Ironman Lake Placid win, where he set a course record of 8:23:12. In 2008 he retired from professional racing. Simon resides in Boulder, Colorado, United States, where he operates Boulder Coaching with Darren de Reuck.
Samantha Warriner is a retired triathlete who represented New Zealand in triathlons ranging from sprint distance up to the Ironman. She was born in Alton, Hampshire, England. She turned professional at the end of 2005 after competing internationally for 3 years while teaching full-time at Whangarei Girls High School.
Melissa Hauschildt is an Australian professional triathlete and former middle-distance runner. She is a 3-time World Champion, winning Gold at the 2011 and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship as well as the 2013 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships. She also won Silver at the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships. In April 2018, Hauschildt set a new Ironman brand record of 8:31:05, at the Ironman North American Championships, breaking the previous record of 8:33:56 set by Chrissie Wellington in 2011.
Erika Csomor is a Hungarian triathlete and duathlete. In 1998 she ran the marathon race at the European Championships, ending up in 36th place with a total time of 2:48:37.
Alistair Edward Brownlee MBE is a British triathlete. He is the only athlete to hold two Olympic titles in the triathlon event, winning gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He is also a four-time World Champion in triatlon being Triathlon World Champion twice and World Team Champion twice, a four-time European Champion, and the 2014 Commonwealth champion. Brownlee is the only athlete, male or female, to have completed a grand slam of Olympic, World, continental and Commonwealth championships. Brownlee is also a one-time world champion in aquathlon.
Francisco Javier Gómez Noya is a Spanish triathlete. He is the winner of five ITU Triathlon World Championships, he holds three ITU Triathlon World Cup titles, and won the Silver medal for Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in men's triathlon. He has also won world titles for Ironman 70.3 and XTERRA Triathlon.
Laura Marie Bennett is an American professional triathlete. She placed fourth in the women's triathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2012, she finished 17th at the London Olympic Games. She earned a silver medal at the World Triathlon Championships in 2003 and bronze medals in 2004, 2005, and 2007. She has also raced at the Half-Ironman distance, placing 5th at the 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Mirinda Carfrae is an Australian professional triathlete and an Ironman Triathlon world champion. Carfrae has achieved podium positions in six of her seven attempts at the Ironman World Championships: 1st-place finishes, three 2nd-place finishes and a 3rd place. She also won the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Caroline Steffen is a professional triathlete from Switzerland. She is the winner of the 2010 and 2012 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships and took second at the 2010 and 2012 Ironman World Championship. Before competing as a professional triathlete she was a member of the Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team.
Charlotte McShane is a Scottish-born Australian professional triathlete and the 2013 U23 ITU World Triathlon Champion and the 2008 Xterra U20 World Champion.
Magali Tisseyre is a Canadian triathlete from Montreal who races primarily in long distance, non-drafting triathlon events. She took third place at both the 2009 and 2010 Ironman 70.3 World Championships.
Mary Beth Ellis is a retired American long-distance triathlete. She holds the record for the fastest iron-distance race by an American woman, set at Ironman Austria in 2011 with a time of 8:43:34. She is the 2015 ITU Long Distance Triathlon champion and has taken second place at both the 2008 and 2009 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. She has been named USA Triathlon's Non-Olympic/ITU Female Athlete of the Year for both 2011 and 2012.
Kelly Williamson is an American triathlete who races in non-drafting, long-course events. In 2012, she took 2nd place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Sebastian Kienle is a German long-distance triathlete. He is the winner of the 2014 Ironman World Championship, as well as the 2012 and 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
Heather Jackson is an American triathlete and track cyclist. She is the runner-up of the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and the third-place finisher at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. In 2009, she took third place in individual pursuit and omnium at the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships.
Rachel Joyce is an English professional triathlete. She is the winner of the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships and the second-place finisher at the 2013 Ironman World Championship and 2015 Ironman World Championship. She races in primarily long distance triathlon events, such as Ironman and Ironman 70.3 distances, and has won events such as Ironman Mont Tremblant in 2017 and Challenge Roth in 2012.
Annabel Luxford is an Australian triathlete. In International Triathlon Union (ITU) competition she is the 2005 ITU Triathlon World Cup series champion and the silver medalist at the 2005 ITU Triathlon World Championships. In 2004, she was the ITU under-23 World Champion and also finished second in the ITU Triathlon World Cup standings. In 2013, after changing to non-drafing long course racing, she finished third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships.
Siri Lindley is an American triathlon coach and former professional triathlete. She is the 2001 ITU Triathlon World Champion as well as the winner of the 2001 and 2002 ITU Triathlon World Cup series and 2001 ITU Aquathlon World Championships. She has coached a number of Olympic and Ironman athletes and champions, including Mirinda Carfrae, Leanda Cave, Sarah True, and Susan Williams. In 2014, she was selected to be a member of the inaugural International Triathlon Union (ITU) Hall of Fame class.
Heather Wurtele is a Canadian professional triathlete who races long-distance, non-drafting triathlon events. She has over 60 career professional triathlon podium finishes and 30 plus career wins, including 25 half iron distance wins and 7 Ironman wins. Her career highlights include placing third at the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship, second at the 2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and third at the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. She also placed 3rd at the ITU Long Course World Championships in 2017 and won the North American 70.3 Championships in 2015 and 2016.
Holly Lawrence is a triathlete who competed for Wales in the mixed relay event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and won the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Lawrence is a fraternal triplet, and lives in Santa Monica, California.