St Mary’s Alumna Wins Olympic Bronze Medal in Triathlon

Alumna of St Mary’s University, Twickenham Beth Potter has won the Bronze Medal in the Women’s Triathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Competing in her second Olympics, following running in the women’s 10000m at Rio 2016, Beth completed the race in 1:55:10, just 15 seconds behind Frances’s Catherine Beaugrand, competing in front of a home crowd.

Beth, who trained to teach at St Mary’s, was a member of the Endurance Performance Centre through Rio 2016. She changed discipline to Triathlon following Rio 2016, becoming World Champion in the 2023 World Triathlon Series. She also made headlines running a time of 14:41in a 5km road race in 2021, unofficially beating the world record.

Speaking of her performance, Head of Sport St Mary’s Andrew Reid-Smith, “Beth was an athlete who trained and studied as part of the St Mary’s Endurance Performance Centre. It’s a significant feat to have competed at Olympic level in two different sports, and to become World Champion and an Olympic Medallist is incredible. Beth’s courageous performance was amazing, all at St Mary’s are very proud of her.”

Speaking ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Beth said, “Being at St Mary’s has been really helpful, my coach Mick Woods is based on campus so I can train after work. I have access to the PEC [Performance Education Centre] and the Strength and Conditioning coaches here…and also my psychologist Stacy Winter is based at St Mary’s, and it’s been really beneficial.”

Beth is the second medallist from St Mary’s at Paris 2024, following alumnus and former sport scholar Aaron Grandidier’s Gold Medal for France in the Rugby Sevens. St Mary’s has seen thirteen alumni, athletes, and students compete in Paris 2024 in athletics, triathlon, rugby sevens, and para-cycling events for Great Britain, Jamaica, and France.

St Mary’s has a history of success at recent Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes, alumni, and students from SMU have won a Gold medal at every Games since Beijing 2008. In total the University has seen 51 athletes take part in the last four Olympic and Paralympic Games, with some representing multiple events, winning 17 medals for their nations prior to Paris 2024.