Annabel Luxford
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Annabel Luxford (born 2 March 1982) is an Australian
triathlete 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 ...
. In
International Triathlon Union World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. It is recognised as the inte ...
(ITU) competition she is the 2005
ITU Triathlon World Cup The World Triathlon Cup is an annual series of triathlon races staged around the world. The series is organised by the World Triathlon, the world governing body of the sport. Inaugurated in 1991, the World Cup began as an attempt to create a regula ...
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.


Career

Luxford was born in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia and grew up in Hobart and
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. At the age of ten she competed at the national Cross Country Championships, finishing first in the 2000m event. In high school, she achieved podium finishes at national cross country and middle-distance events and would later win the under-20 Australian Cross Country Championships. At age nine she competed in her first triathlon and continued to compete in school triathlon events throughout high school.


ITU competition

At seventeen she was invited to join the Australian team and competed in the 1999 Junior Elite ITU World Championships in Montreal Canada, finishing fourth. In 2000, she attended
Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...
on a sports' scholarship where she studied to earn her degree in communication. Despite her training being limited by her studies whilst at university she was selected in the Australian junior elite or under-23 team and finished top seven at each year's World Championships race. ;2004-2006 In 2004, Luxford began competing on the
International Triathlon Union World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. It is recognised as the inte ...
race circuit. That year she would win the under-23 World Championship race in
Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
and finished second overall in the ITU World Cup standings. In 2005, she finished first in the ITU World Cup Series rankings and second at the ITU Elite World Championships in Gamagori. The next year she took fifth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. From 2004 to 2007 Luxford achieved 16 ITU World Cup podium finishes, including four wins. ;2007-2009 In 2007, Luxford was selected to be on Triathlon Australia's short list of athletes to compete in the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
; however, a leg injury in 2008 ended her bid for the Olympic Games. She rebounded in 2009 by winning the Australian National title and taking fifth in the ITU World Championship Series (WCS) Grand Final to finish 10th overall in the final WCS rankings. During this time Luxford obtained her graduate diploma in Applied Law (
alternate dispute resolution Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an alternative to mainstream superh ...
) from the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
. ;2010-2011 Returning from injury Luxford missed out on achieving some of her goals in 2010. Following two 21st-place finishes and a 16th-place finish on the WCS race circuit she was forced to withdraw from the Grand Final race due to trouble breathing from her
asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
. She would later compete in the USA Elite National Championships, finishing third. Unfortunately, her season ended shortly thereafter due to a displaced rib fracture and a partially collapsed lung suffered during a visit to a chiropractor. In 2011, Luxford found that she had lost interest and the passion for ITU racing claiming that "women’s racing it seems to have frequently become a test of who can run the fastest after soft pedalling for 40 km and having a paddle in the water." She then moved onto Olympic distance non-drafting racing at the
Hy-Vee Triathlon The Hy-Vee Triathlon (now known as the Des Moines Triathlon) was an Olympic-distance triathlon race held in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. From 2011 to 2014, the race served as the World Triathlon Corporation's 5150 Series U.S. Championships. Previously, i ...
. This was her first time on a time trial bike, which was lent to her by
Mirinda Carfrae Mirinda Carfrae (born 26 March 1981) 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: three 1st-place finish ...
.


Non-drafting competition

;2012–present Fully converted to non-drafting triathlon racing Luxford began competing in
Life Time Fitness Life Time, Inc. is a chain of health clubs in the United States and Canada. History The company was founded by chairman and chief executive officer, Bahram Akradi. The company was incorporated in 1990 as FCA, Ltd., a Minnesota corporation, and ...
Triathlon Series (amongst other races), securing numerous podium finishes. She also took second place at the 2012
Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Escape from Alcatraz is the name for two different triathlons held in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The Escape from Alcatraz originated in 1981 as a private club event, beginning in San Francisco and ending in Marin County. The rac ...
. She then began branching out to longer distance races, including the
Ironman 70.3 An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting ...
race series. In December 2012, in her first half Ironman distance event, she took first place at Ironman 70.3 in Canberra and then she took first place at the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship in Auckland in February 2013. Luxford continued her strong 2013 season with a second-place finish at the Ironman 70.3 European Championship in Wiesbaden and a third place a month later at the 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The following year, in 2014, against strong, competitive fields she took 2nd place at both the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship and at the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon. She also claimed the Ironman 70.3 Australian Championship title in Mandurah; however, a collision with a car whilst training meant that in her second 70.3 World Championship appearance she was unable to match her finish from the previous year, finishing 11th in Mont-Tremblant. In 2015, Luxford began working part-time in digital communications at the National Australia Bank in Melbourne whilst continuing training and competing. That year she competed in her first Ironman, finishing 6th at Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship in Melbourne and raced as a rookie at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, finishing 12th. She also competed successfully in 70.3 and Challenge Half events, winning Ironman 70.3 events in Western Sydney and Ballarat.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Luxford, Annabel Living people Australian female triathletes Bond University alumni University of Queensland alumni Sportswomen from Queensland 1982 births Triathletes from Brisbane