Emma-Kate wins world triathlon bronze (From Oxford Mail)

Emma-Kate wins world triathlon bronze

6:44pm Monday 3rd September 2007

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An Oxford athlete has spoken of her delight after claiming bronze at the World Triathlon Championships at the weekend.

Emma-Kate Lidbury, who was representing Great Britain for the second time, was the highest finishing Brit in her 25- to 29-year-old age group at the event in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday.

The 27-year-old finished the course in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds, only missing out on the silver medal by two seconds and gold by 18 seconds.

Ms Lidbury said: "I'm so pleased to have won the bronze medal and to have finished ahead of some very strong competitors.

"This race was the highlight of my season. It was what I had been working towards for the past year and I have had to give up a lot to get there.

"It feels a bit like Christmas when you get great presents. The next day you wake up and get excited again because you remember you've got them."

The race took place over three stages, a 1,500m swim followed by a 40k bike ride and then a 10k run.

On the day, Ms Lidbury, who lives in Jericho, was the sixth fastest competitor out of all age categories, made up of almost 1,000 entrants.

Ms Lidbury, who also writes for the Oxford Mail, had been leading the race until the eight kilometre mark in the run when she was overtaken by Canadian Rachel McBride, who went on to win gold.

She said: "She was running in a different gear and I knew I had to hang on. I kept saying to myself, 'keep going, keep running, this is the World Championship'.

"I was literally metres from the line when Sophie Hawken from Australia passed me to get the silver.

"But to beat Felicity Hart from the UK, who was favourite to win the race and who came in fourth, it's fantastic.

"I knew it was all in there, it's just hoping it all comes together at the right time and it did. There was a lot of support for the British contingent, which was excellent."

Ms Lidbury said she has now been approached by race organisers about the prospect of taking part in the elite events for professional athletes.

She said: "Going professional is certainly something to think about and to be contacted by the elite race organisers doesn't happen unless you are at the top and your name is known."

This has built on the success she had earlier this year, when she won the women's amateur race at the London Triathlon.

Ms Lidbury's training schedule has seen her putting in between 10 and 15 hours a week since January.

This has included a strict diet, which meant no alcohol, and she said it would be nice to finally relax and celebrate the hard fought race.

She said: "When I got back to the hotel room my boyfriend asked me to grab him a beer out of the fridge.

"When I opened it there was a huge bottle of Moet Champagne waiting for me. But after all that exercise and not having much to eat, I was drunk pretty quickly."

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