Kate Allen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women’s triathlon | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Triathlon | |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
For the Director General of Amnesty International UK, see Kate Allen.
Katherine Jessie Jean Allen (born April 25, 1970, in Geelong, Australia) is an Austrian triathlete. She won gold in the women's triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. At the end of the swim leg Allen was in 44th place in the field of 51. After the 40 km bicycle leg Allen was in 28th place. In the run leg she progressively overtook 27 competitors to power past the then leader Australian Loretta Harrop just 150 metres from the finish line to win the race in emphatic style.
Kate Allen grew up on a 2000-acre sheep-farming property with her 3 brothers at Teesdale in southeastern Australia.
From an early age her parents encouraged her to run, and she used to frequently jog to primary school some 3 kilometres from home. At the age of four Kate began particpating in Little Athletics at Landy Field in Geelong. She competed in junior athletics until the age of 14, winning a number of championships over 1500m and ‘cross-country’ distance. Kate also enjoyed gymnastics in her early years, a sport that would prove important to her coordination skills during her triathlon career.
Allen graduated from Ballarat University as a nurse at age 20. She then travelled overseas. During one of her trips she met Marcel Diechtler, whom she married in 1999, who at the time was one of Austria’s triathlon hopes. Marcel encouraged Kate to take up triathlon, which she did in 1996.
After some years of successful racing around Europe as an unknown Australian athlete Kate received the Austrian citizenship in 2002 and started her successful World Cup racing taking silver in only her 3rd World Cup in Hamburg, Germany and winning silver at the European Championships in Valencia, Spain.
Eight years after starting triathlon she won the 2004 Olympic triathlon in Athens, her career highlight. In the same year she was voted Austrian sports personality of the year and also received the European Sports Award.
Alongside her Olympic distance triathlon career, Allen showed some very strong performances in Ironman racing. She did in 2002 the fastest Ironman debut time ever, completing the 3,8km swim, 180km bike leg and the 42,2km marathon in only 8:58:24 hours. She was able to top this performance in 2003 with her finishing in 8:54:01 hours, which is still her personal record in Ironman triathlon.
After the Olympic Games in Athens it was Allen's plan to only race Ironman triathlon for 2005 and 2006 with the aim of winning the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. After finishing 7th in 2002, Allen was twice 5th, in 2005 and 2006.
It was always Allen's intention to return to Olympic distance triathlon in 2007 to try to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Achievements:
2002
- 2nd place, Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt/Austria (08:58:24 hrs. - fastest Ironman debut in history)
- 7th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/USA (09:38:40 hrs.)
2003
- 1st place, Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt/Austria (08:54:01 hrs.)
- 1st place, ITU Triathlon International race, Geneve/Switzerland
- 2nd place, ITU Triathlon World Cup, Hamburg/Germany
- 4th place, ITU Triathlon World Cup, Makuhari/Japan
- 6th place, ITU Triathlon World Cup, Geelong/Australien
- Austrian Champion 2003 Triathlon Olympic Distance
- Austrian Champion 2003 Triathlon Ironman Distance
2004
- Olympic Champion, Athens/Greece
- Vice-European Champion, Valencia/Spain
- Austrian sports personality of the year 2004
2005
- 1st place, Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt/Austria (9:07:03 hrs.)
- 5th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/USA (9:22:08 hrs.)
2006
- 1st place, Vienna City Half-Marathon (1:14:24 hrs.)
- 5th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/USA (9:30:22 hrs.)
2007
- Vice-European Champion, Kopenhagen/Danmark
- Vice-European Champion Team, Kopenhagen/Danmark
- 3rd place, ITU Triathlon World Cup, Salford/England
[edit] External links
- (German) Official website
|
|||||
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Michaela Dorfmeister |
Austrian Sportswoman of the year 2004 |
Succeeded by Renate Götschl |
