Chrissie Wellington is cycling through Hyde Park on Thursday when she stops to
chat. Two days after being named The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the
Year, she repeatedly stresses that winning an honour that was the property
of her heroes is surreal.
Though she has pulled over on her bike to interrupt her afternoon ride, there
is no halting her career. A world record-holder and three-time Ironman
Triathlon world champion, she now wants a fourth title. But that is not all.
The London Olympic Games are less than three years away and she would also
like to be there.
Given that cycling over the Himalayas was once Wellington’s normal morning
ride, do not bank against her in another challenge that awaits one of the
toughest women in British sport. The Ironman Triathlon remains the priority
for Wellington, 32, but in the next 12 months she plans to compete in a
series of cycling time trials to determine whether she has the speed to go
for a place in the British cycling team. It is an opportunity to add another
string to her bow. “It is amazing what the body and mind can achieve,” she
says, “great things if you really set your heart to it. My parents taught me
that.” Ironman is the ultimate sporting test, a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile
bike ride and a marathon, all in less than nine hours.
Wellington, from Norfolk, this year broke the Ironman world record by more
than 13 minutes in a time of 8hr 31min 59sec before winning her third world
title in a course record in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. July’s world-record
performance in Roth, Germany, saw her cycle for 4hr, 40min 28sec. The
individual time trial in Beijing was won in 34min, 51sec by Kristin
Armstrong of the USA — so much more a test of speed. “Next year I intend to
just get a gauge of how good or otherwise I am,” Wellington says. “I am
under no illusions. The British cycling team is absolutely phenomenal, so it
would take an incredible amount for me to even tiptoe through the door.
“But I will never say never. I want to push my limits, test myself, test my
body and mind. I always want to strive for more and that more could
potentially be an Olympic sport. It requires a different skills set. My
physical and mental attributes are more suited to longer-distance racing.
“It [time trialling] is a totally different sport. I have a clear idea of what
it will take and that is why I need to test myself and put myself in these
races to see how I fare. I don’t want to assume I would be able to step from
one [sport] to another and I definitely do not want to take anything away
from the British cyclists. But athletes have shown that they can cross
disciplines. It is certainly worth exploring. If I did okay in those [time
trials], then I could definitely speak to British Cycling about how I might
pursue it.”
The best example of a British sportswoman switching sports is Rebecca Romero.
At the Olympics in Athens in 2004, she won a rowing silver as a member of
the quadruple skulls; four years later in Beijing, she won track gold in
cycling’s individual pursuit.
When Wellington arrived at the David Beckham Academy near London’s 02 Arena
last week for the 2009 Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards, held in
association with Brittany Ferries, she read about the previous winners. Two
hours later, after world champion sprint cyclist Victoria Pendleton had come
third and world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis second, Wellington was
stunned when she found out she had won.
“I was looking through the brochure at all the names of the women, phenomenal
athletes, who have won this award — Tanni Grey-Thompson, Sally Gunnell,
Ellen MacArthur — many of whom were childhood heroines of mine,” she says.
“To have my name among those is a huge honour and something I did not expect
to happen. There are so many fantastic female athletes who have achieved so
much this year and over time, and triathlon is still not a mainstream sport,
it is a minority sport, though the number of participants are growing. I did
not expect the British public to vote for me. I am incredibly happy and it
is great to represent my sport and to raise the profile of my sport.”
Wellington, who worked as a policy adviser at the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), became aware of her talent for endurance
while on a sabbatical with the charity Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN). “My
passion was international development and I also wanted to get some
experience working in development on the ground,” she says. “That is why I
took a sabbatical. When you are working at the high level of policy-making
[with Defra], you can effect change but you cannot see that change in
effect.
“I went to live and work in Nepal for over a year, working for RRN, a large
charity. I was a jack of all trades. I was managing a water, sanitation and
health project, I was piloting a new approach to sanitation in Nepal, I
wrote papers, editing books on the impact of the civil war on poverty. I
earned a massive $100 a month.”
When she was not working, she was mountain-biking. “Every morning before work,
for a couple of hours, and then all weekend, we would go away on these big
rides,” she says. “I cycled over the Himalayas on my bike with my friends
and that is when I realised I had more of a talent for endurance activities.
I could keep cycling and cycling all day and did not really get that tired.”
Those rides formed the beginning of a journey that is far from finished.
There is another big year ahead for Wellington and Ennis, who, as she
celebrated coming second in the awards,revealed her plans to compete at the
world indoor athletics championships in Doha in March. “I have never done a
world indoors,” she said. “Hopefully it will be my first. A lot of it is to
do with missing a whole season last year and now making the most of
everything.”
Pendleton, who won the main Sportswoman award in 2007, revealed how tough it
was to land a world title for a third time the year after her Olympic glory.
“It was the hardest achievement [of my career] because it was impossible to
manage all the things going on in my life post-Beijing,” she said. “I can
understand why athletes take a break because it’s hard to get motivated
again. You go back to the velodrome the next week and I rode the nationals
afterwards. It was lonely and hard, mentally more than physically. I can
understand why people don’t do it [return to competitive action] so soon
because it nearly tore me apart.” But she made it to the top of the podium,
as did Ennis and Wellington, who has been added to the list of people she
once looked up to.
Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, a paralympic legend and past winner of The Sunday
Times Sportswomen of the Year Award, summed up another great year for women
in British sport in her role as the chair of the commission on the Future of
Women’s Sport. “The Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards play a vital
role in putting women’s sport on the map,” she said. “Not just the
world-class athletic successes are championed but other important areas such
as sponsorship and leadership.
“By recognising what the likes of Chrissie and the England women’s cricket
team have achieved, other success stories will follow as people feel
inspired. Whether it’s a corporate brand investing in women’s sport or a
woman climbing the administrative ladder, the awards provide role models.
With the growing success of women’s sport, it’s winning more space in the
media and we hope this positive cycle continues.”
FROM ENDURANCE TO ALL-OUT SPEED
Individual time trials are held over different distances, with the Beijing
course at the 2008 Olympics being just under 15 miles, compared with the
standard 112 miles that is part of the Ironman Triathlon. In 2012, the
Olympic time trial will finish in Regent’s Park, the setting for the climax
to road racing events. The distance has not been announced but it will be
far shorter than the cycling leg of a triathlon.
And the winners are:
Team of the Year – England women’s cricket team
For the third time in four years, England’s women cricketers were recognised
as the most outstanding female team of the calendar year. They dominated the
sport in the past 11 months. In March, Charlotte Edwards’s team lifted the
ICC World Cup for the third time in their history but for the first time
abroad. In June they were crowned World Twenty20 winners; and then, after
thrashing the Australians 4-0 in the one-day series, they retained the Ashes
with a drawn Test in Worcester. Claire Taylor was named the ICC women’s
cricketer of the year last month. Andrew Strauss, the England men’s captain,
said: 'I have been hugely impressed by what the England women’s team have
achieved. Charlotte and the rest of the team have done an enormous amount to
raise the profile of women’s cricket not just in this country but all around
the world.'
Also nominated: Gillian Cooke and Nicola Minichiello (bobsleigh duo), Great
Britain women’s canoe polo team
CCPR Lifetime Achievement Award – Rachael Heyhoe-Flint
Fittingly given the achievements of the women cricketers, the Lifetime Award
was presented to the person who had helped lay the foundations for the
current generation. Thirty years ago former captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint
played her last Test. Not only did she oversee the first women’s one-day
international to be played at Lord’s and win the inaugural women’s World
Cup, but Heyhoe-Flint retired as the leading female run scorer in Test
cricket.
As President of the Lady Taverners for the past eight years, she has helped
raise more than £6.75m for youngsters with special needs and, 10 years ago,
the 70-year old became one of 10 women granted honorary life membership of
the MCC. 'This Award has made an old woman very happy – or perhaps even a
happy woman very old,' she said
UK Sport Young Sportswoman of the Year - Holly Colvin
Colvin, the No 1 ranked bowler in women’s one-day international cricket, is
only 20 years old yet has been a member of three victorious Ashes squads. In
2005 she became the youngest cricketer to represent England and has matured
into a high-class spin bowler. She was the leading wicket-taker with nine
scalps in the World Twenty20 tournament.
Also nominated: Elizabeth Armitstead; Francesca Halsall
Sport England Community Club Volunteer Award – Cathy Rooney
Since January, when her idea for the Woodthorpe Huffers and Puffers running
club came to fruition, Cathy Rooney has helped more than 150 women of
varying degrees of fitness from the Nottingham area to start running,
offering social, recreational jogging in a supported environment. Thanks to
her inspiration, and plenty of perspiration, dozens of members who were
non-runners to begin with, and struggled even to run for a minute, have
since entered 10km races and half marathons.
Also nominated: Liz Chowienczyk; Bee Gregorie; Jane Jewell
WSFF Sponsorship of the Year – McDonald’s ‘Mums On The Ball’ campaign
McDonald’s is one of the country’s biggest supporters of grassroots football
and 18 months ago set up the ‘Mums on the Ball’ campaign to enable more
mothers to get involved in coaching and their children’s football
activities. Last year more than 200 mothers graduated from this programme
and 300 have signed-up for this year’s courses. 'Mums are often more
available in terms of weekends and evenings. In fact, in my experience,
there are many more mums on the sidelines of football matches,' said
campaign ambassador Lynn Walcott, the mother of Arsenal and England winger
Theo. 'Women, traditionally, have always washed the kit and taxied boys and
girls around. But this is an opportunity to do a bit more than that
background stuff.'
Disabled Sportswoman of the Year – Sarah Storey
Although the decision to switch Paralympic sports from swimming to cycling was
forced on her rather unexpectedly four years ago following a series of
chronic ear infections, Sarah Storey’s remarkable capacity to win medals and
break world records seems to have no bounds. The 32-year old's victories at
the Paralympic track world cup in May were followed in September by two gold
medals at the UCI Paracycling world road championships
Also nominated: Danielle Brown; Clare Strange
Sports Businesswoman Award - Karen Earl
Back in 1984, when a young and ambitious Karen Earl set up an independent
sponsorship consultancy, starting with only two clients, she could not have
envisaged how successful it would become but, more than a quarter of a
century later, Synergy – formerly known as Karen Earl Sponsorship – has
maintained its position at the forefront of the industry, with an enviable
client list of substantially impressive global brands.
The Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration - Dee Caffari
On February 16, after 99 days alone at sea, Caffari finished sixth in the
Vendeé Globe race, thus becoming the first woman to sail single-handed
non-stop around the world in both directions. 'Life always has two options.
There is always the easy option to take but then you always think: ‘what
if?’ I hate missing out. If you push yourself a little bit more, then
suddenly you realise that there is more out there, more doors and
opportunities open for you,' said Caffari
PE Teacher of the Year – Caroline Sidell
The fact that Caroline Sidell was initially nominated by one of her sixth form
students at South Bromsgrove High in Worcestershire, who wrote a glowing
resume, speaks volumes for this unique teacher who continuously campaigns
for local and national funding and organises sports clubs and activities,
ranging from football to table tennis, street dance to cheerleading.
Also nominated: Sue Simpson (Southend High School for Girls, Essex);
Annette Woodrow (Kingsbury High School, London)
Sports Leader of the Year – Hope Powell
When Hope Powell became full-time head coach of the England women’s senior
football team in 1998 her expectations were relatively modest – but 11 years
on, and one World Cup quarter-final and three European championship
appearances later, England are now classed as one of the best teams in the
world. Behind the scenes she has secured more funding, essential backroom
staff, central contracts for England elite players and overseen the creation
of various England youth teams and the introduction of the women’s Super
League
Also nominated: Clare Connor (Head of England women’s cricket at the ECB);
Rebecca Gibson (Head of development for the Amateur Boxing Association of
England)
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