Beth Potter (born 27 December 1991) is a Scottish triathlete and long distance runner. She competed for Great Britain in athletics at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

she won the gold medal at the

European Triathlon Championships The Europe Triathlon Championships are the main triathlon championships in Europe organised by Europe Triathlon. Conducted over the 'standard' or 'Olympic' triathlon distance of a 1500m swim, a 40 km bike and 10 km run, the event has ...

in Weert, Netherlands. In 2022, she won individual bronze at the

2022 World Triathlon Sprint Championships The 2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships was a series of triathlon races organised by World Triathlon held in Montréal, Canada on June 23–26, 2022. The event was the first combined sprint and mixed relay world championships, and a ...

, and silver with Team Great Britain in the

World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships The World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships, is an annual team triathlon competition organized by World Triathlon. The competition is completed in teams of four, two men and two women, with each member doing a super-sprint distance triathlon. Hi ...

. In 2023, she won the Elite championship in the

World Triathlon Championship Series The World Triathlon Championship Series is an annual series of triathlon events organised by World Triathlon. The series is used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. Previously, the ITU (the former name of World Triathlon) world champi ...

, becoming the sixth British women's world champion. Potter also competes in Super League Triathlon. She won the Super League Triathlon Arena Games, London 2021, and was second at the Rotterdam event. In 2022 Potter became the first Esports Triathlon World Champion, by winning the 2022 Arena Games Triathlon series. Potter won a bronze medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the individual triathlon.

Early life

Potter was born in Scotland and grew up in

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

, where she ran for Victoria Park Glasgow. Her father, Alex, is also a competitive runner and her sister, Sarah, is a running coach. At a young age Potter was a competitive swimmer. She attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. Potter moved to London for postgraduate training at

St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its stated commitment is to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. History Originally foun ...

and trained as part of the Endurance Performance Centre there through

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Career

Running career

Potter began competing as a runner in 2004. In 2008, she placed first at the Scottish Under-15 Championships in cross country and in the 1500m distance in track. She finished 36th in Under 20 cross-country at the World Championships in 2010. Coming back from an injury, Potter placed 18th in 5,000m at the under 23 European Championships in 2013 (16th after disqualifications). Potter began training with coach

Mick Woods Michael 'Mick' Woods (born 15 February 1949 in Great Britain) is a former long-distance runner and a middle/long-distance running coach. He is currently a coach at Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletics Club, Aldershot, Farnham & District A ...

who convinced her not to quit running. Potter was more successful in 2014 competing at the senior level, representing Scotland at

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

where she finished 9th in the 5,000m and 5th at the 10,000m distance. The next year she had a disappointing 2015 season due to illness. Potter qualified to represent Great Britain at the

. She secured her place qualifying as the second British woman in the women's 10,000m behind Jess Andrews. Leading up to the Olympics, Potter trained with fellow Scot Steph Twell. Potter also worked with a sports psychologist weekly in an effort to overcome her difficulty managing stress. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the women's 10,000 metres, finishing 34th. In May 2017 Potter won the 10,000 metres at the British trials, her first race on the track since the Olympics, qualifying her for the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London.

Triathlon career

In January 2017 Potter announced that she was planning to make a transition from athletics to triathlon with a view to competing in triathlon at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, having moved to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

to join an elite training group including

Alistair Brownlee Alistair Edward Brownlee (born 23 April 1988) is an English former triathlete. He is the only athlete to hold two Olympic titles in the individual triathlon event, winning gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He is also a four-time ...

Jonathan Brownlee Jonathan Callum Brownlee (born 30 April 1990) is an English professional duathlete and triathlete. He is a six-time World champion (once World Triathlon Series, twice World Sprint Triathlon, three-time World Triathlon Mixed Relay), and one- ...

Vicky Holland Vicky Holland (born 12 January 1986) is a British former triathlete who was part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team. Holland was the 2018 World Triathlon champion, the fourth British woman to win the title. She was also t ...

and

Non Stanford Non Rhiannydd Stanford (born 8 January 1989) is a British former professional triathlete, representing Great Britain and Wales at international level. Stanford was the ITU (now World Triathlon) World Champion in 2013, part of the Great Britain ...

, although she did also indicate that she would aim to compete in the

2017 World Athletics Championships The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

. In June 2017 she finished third in the elite race at the Blenheim Palace Triathlon and won the elite competition at the Cardiff Triathlon. Potter finished 4th in the 2021 Super League Triathlon Championship Series, as well as winning the Super League Triathlon Arena Games, London, and finishing second at the Rotterdam event. in 2022, Potter won Arena Games Triathlon Powered by Zwift, Munich, the first event of the new Arena Games Triathlon Powered by Zwift Esports World Championship series. Two weeks later, at Arena Games Triathlon London, she finished in 2nd place behind France's Cassandre Beaugrand At the final event of the series, held at Marina Bay Singapore, Potter finished in second place, behind Hungary's Zsanett Bragmeyer. Her second place finish, was however enough to take the overall title in the 2022 Arena Games Triathlon Series, making Potter the inaugural Esports Triathlon World Champion. She finished in third place at SLT

NEOM Neom (styled NEOM; , ) is an arcology and planned city being built by Saudi Arabia in Tabuk Province. Launched in 2017 by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, the site is at the northern tip of the Red Sea, due east of Egypt across the Gulf of A ...

, the final event of the 2022 Super League Triathlon season, her podium finish at the event secured her 4th place in the series overall. In August 2023, Potter won the Olympic Games Test Event for the

in Paris, finishing ahead of Cassandre Beaugrand and

Laura Lindemann Laura Lindemann (born 26 June 1996) is a German triathlete. She was a gold medal winner in the mixed relay event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She previously also competed at the 2016 Olympic Games, 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. She was a ...

. On 24 September, she was crowned World Champion after winning the World Triathlon Championship Series final in Pontevedra, Spain. In November 2023 it was announced that Potter had been selected for the British 2024 Summer Olympic team. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Potter came third and took the Bronze Medal.

Teaching career

In addition to training as a runner, as of June 2016 Potter was teaching physics in west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. However by the end of that year she had left her teaching post in order to concentrate on training full-time.

References

External links

* *
Beth Potter
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Beth Living people 1991 births Alumni of Loughborough University Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in triathlon Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Olympic athletes for Great Britain Scottish Olympic competitors Scottish female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners Scottish female triathletes Sportspeople from Bearsden Athletes from Glasgow Triathletes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Triathletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games athletes for Scotland 21st-century Scottish sportswomen