
The world of triathlon has a few legends but not many with a 30 year professional career.
Karen Smyers competed as a professional triathlete for 30 years. In her lengthy career, she won seven
National and four World Championship titles, including a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the
Hawaiian Ironman World Championships in 1995. Her victory at the short-course ITU Triathlon World
Championship just 5 weeks later still earns her the distinction of being the only woman ever to win
triathlon’s two most prestigious races in the same year.
Her career didn't come without challenges and injuries. At what might have been considered the peak of her career she suffered
a severed hamstring muscle by shard of broken glass. An unexpected time-out but a welcome chance to begin a family.
Karen also had a near fatal bike accident after being struck by an eighteen-wheeler while training, and a battle with
thyroid cancer, which prompted Sports Illustrated to name her “The Triathlete Most Likely to Be Eaten
by a Shark” in Sydney. Instead, she came back to win her seventh Elite National Championship title in
August of 2001, just a week shy of her 40 th birthday. Karen was honored by her induction into USA
Triathlon’s and the International Triathlon Union’s Halls of Fame in both of their inaugural years. In May
2020, Karen has the honor of serving as the women’s coach of Team USA for the inaugural Collins
Cup, an event modeled after golf’s Ryder Cup to bring professional triathlon to a new level of notoriety
and value.
Currently, she shares her experience, optimism, and passion for racing as a coach, motivational
speaker and race organizer with her newly launched company Gallivant Racing. She has spearheaded
the all-volunteer-managed Lincoln Kids Triathlon for the past 17 years. She is a 1983 graduate of
Princeton University and lives in Lincoln, MA with daughter Jenna, son Casey, and husband and
frequent training partner Michael King. Let's meet Karen Smyers!
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