Participation is not Enough

Kate Allen’s life is a modern-day fairy tale – a shoestring world traveller becomes an Olympic triathlon champion.

Born in Australia yet Austrian by choice, Kate Allen ran, swam and rode her way to an Olympic Gold Medal in the triathlon on August 25, 2004.
Once an Olympic champion, always an Olympic champion – that will stand the test of time. But the underlying details do get lost, the story of the person behind the feat. In Kate Allen’s case especially, that would be a shame, for her life is a brilliant case study on how to attain your goals despite some initial confusion.
And so it’s only logical that Kate Allen has written a book about herself. It’s due to appear in September, at first unfortunately only in German, under the title "2:04:43 – Vom Outback zum Olympiagold" (2:04:43 – From the Outback to Olympic Gold).

Waitress, Wanderer, Olympic Champion

Kate Allen’s rags-to-riches story begins with a waitress and ends with an Olympic champion. Much of the action transpired during the last ten years, but the roots extend back 30 years. Little Katie grew up on her parents’ sheep ranch and used to have to trot three kilometres to school every day, somewhere in a province in southeast Australia. The daily run to school laid the groundwork for her to become a dominant presence at the track in the 1500 metres. She wanted to become a gymnast as well.
Then, when she was 20, she put her ambitions on hold and began roaming the world. She returned to Australia, was certified as a nurse, and then went on another world trip to Asia, Africa and Europe. She got stuck in Austria where she worked as a maid, waitress, dishwasher and even a janitor for toilets. Eventually, she met the triathlete Marcel Diechtler, married him and began to train for triathlons herself.
Those were very intensive years, as the intensive chapters in Kate’s autobiography bear witness. At the end are the two hours, four minutes and 43 seconds that made her a 2004 Olympic champion in Athens.

The Fairy Tale Continues

It’s in Kate Allen’s nature to always pursue a goal, whether a foreign country or an athletic victory. “Participation was never enough for me,” she said in Athens, “I wanted an Olympic medal.” The Olympic victory was neither her first success nor a flash in the pan. In April 2004, four months before the Olympics, Kate became the runner-up European champion in the triathlon. She drew international attention for the first time in 2002 with a seventh place finish in the Ironman on Hawaii. A victory in the Austrian Ironman soon followed in 2003. After her Olympics victory she was awarded Austria’s Athlete of the Year in 2004. In July 2005, she won the Austrian Ironman again - with a time of 9:07:04. She thereby qualified for the Ironman World Championship on October 15 in Hawaii. Her goal is clear: to improve on her 2002 finish by six places.