Emma Pooley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Emma Pooley

Pooley on the podium after winning the 2017 Ventouxman triathlon
Personal information
Born	(1982-10-03) 3 October 1982 (age 42) Wandsworth, England, United Kingdom
Height	1.57 m
Team information
Discipline	Road
Rider type	Climber, time trialist
Major wins
Stage Races Tour de l'Aude (2010) Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale (2009) Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol (2010) Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche (2011, 2012) Tour languedoc roussillon feminin (2013) Tour de Bretagne Féminin (2008) Single-Day Races World Time Trial Championships (2010) UCI Women's Road World Cup Trofeo Alfredo Binda (2008, 2011) Coupe du Monde de Montréal (2009) GP de Plouay (2009, 2010) La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (2010) UCI Single Day Races Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs (2010) Grand Prix De Suisse (2010) Gp Costa Etrusca – Giro Dei Comuni Rosignano-livorno (2009) National Road Race Champion (2010) National Time Trial Champion (2009, 2010, 2014)

Emma Jane Pooley (born 3 October 1982) is an amazing athlete from Great Britain and Switzerland. She used to be a professional cyclist, especially good at time trials and races with lots of hills.

Later, she switched to endurance running, duathlon (which combines running and cycling), and triathlon (swimming, cycling, and running). She became a four-time world champion in long-distance duathlon! She also competes in mountain running and has even represented Switzerland.

Emma won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in cycling. She was also the world time trial champion in 2010. She won many big races, including six UCI Women's Road World Cup events. She also won the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin, a ten-day stage race. Emma has been the British time trial champion three times and the British road race champion once.

After the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Emma stopped professional cycling. She wanted to focus on triathlons, duathlons, and long-distance running. She had already won the Lausanne Marathon and the Swissman triathlon the year before. In 2014 and 2015, she won the Powerman Duathlon World Championships.

In 2015, Emma decided to return to cycling for a short time. She wanted to try and qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. She thought the hilly time trial course there would suit her skills. She rejoined her old team, Lotto–Soudal Ladies, in June 2016. After the Olympics, she went back to duathlon. She won two more world championship titles in 2016 and 2017. She also won a European duathlon title in 2017.

Emma was also a founding member of Le Tour Entier. This group worked to create a Women's Tour de France. They also wanted to make women's cycling better in general.

Emma's Early Life and Education

Emma Pooley was born in Wandsworth, London. She grew up in Norwich, where she went to Norwich High School for Girls. She also attended Norwich School for her final years of high school.

In 2001, she started studying mathematics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. She later changed her major to engineering. She graduated with top honors in 2005.

Emma started cycling at university. This happened after she got an injury from cross-country running. At Cambridge, she was a top athlete in cross-country running, triathlon, and cycling.

Emma's Cycling Career

Her Start in Cycling (2005-2008)

In 2005, Emma surprised everyone by finishing fourth in the national road championship. She then joined a UK team called Team Fat Birds UK. She rode with the British team at the 2005 UCI Road World Championships. She was helping her teammate Nicole Cooke, but she crashed during the race. In 2006, she rode for the same team, which was based in Belgium.

In 2007, she joined Team Specialized Designs for Women. She won her first big race, Stage 3 of the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen. She rode alone for 120 km, which became a common way for her to win races. She represented Britain at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships. She finished 8th in the time trial and 9th in the road race. These results helped Great Britain get a spot in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In 2008, Emma won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda UCI Road World Cup in Italy. She won it after another solo ride. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she finished 23rd in the road race. She helped Nicole Cooke win a gold medal. But her biggest success was in the time trial. She won the silver medal, coming in second place.

Big Wins and Challenges (2009-2012)

Emma Pooley (with Sharon Laws behind) during the 2009 UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland

In 2009, Emma joined the Cervélo Test Team. She stayed with them until the team ended in 2011. She won the national time trial championships in 2009. She also won several one-day races like the Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal and GP de Plouay. She won the last ever Grande Boucle Féminine, which was once called "the women's Tour de France." This race was much shorter in 2009 due to money problems. Emma joked it was "more of a Petite Boucle than Grande." She also led the Giro d'Italia Femminile for three stages. She finished fourth overall. She improved her bike handling skills after this, especially going downhill.

The year 2010 was full of great successes for Emma. In May, she won her first major stage race, the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin. This was the longest-running event for women cyclists. In June, she won another top race, the Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol. She also won two UCI Women's Road World Cup races: the La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and the GP de Plouay. She earned a special rainbow jersey by winning the time trial at the Road World Championships. She was also the British national time trial champion for the second year. Plus, she won her only national road race championship. She ended 2010 as 5th in the world rankings, her highest ever. She also received an award for being the best British cyclist that year.

Emma Pooley competing in the 2012 Olympics time trial in London

In March 2011, Emma won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup race again. She won it with another long solo ride. She broke her collarbone in April, so she couldn't race for a while. But later that year, she won the hilly Tour de l'Ardèche stage race in France. She also finished second in the Giro d'Italia Femminile. She repeated both of these achievements in 2012.

After her team ended in 2011, Emma joined a Dutch team called AA Drink–leontien.nl. This team also closed at the end of 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she helped her teammate Lizzie Armitstead win a silver medal in the road race. Emma finished sixth in the time trial.

Focusing on Studies (2013)

In 2013, Emma took a break from full-time professional racing. She joined a Swiss team, Bigla Cycling Team, that was not registered with the UCI. This allowed her to focus on finishing her PhD in geotechnical engineering. Even with less racing, she won four UCI-ranked races. This included the six-stage Tour Languedoc Roussillon in May.

In September 2013, Emma joined other cyclists to form a group called Le Tour Entier. They asked the organizers of the Tour de France to create a women's version of the race. They also wanted to improve women's cycling in general.

Retirement from Cycling (2014)

Emma joined the Lotto Belisol team for 2014. She won her third national time trial championship. She also won three stages and the mountains classification at the Giro d'Italia Femminile.

During the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Emma announced she would retire from cycling. She wanted to focus on long-distance triathlons and mountain running. After her announcement, she won two silver medals at the Games. She got silver in both the time trial and the road race. She also helped her England teammate Lizzie Armitstead win the road race gold medal.

Temporary Return to Cycling (2015-2016)

Emma returned to cycling in October 2015 for a time trial race. In December 2015, she said she would try to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. British Cycling asked her to come back because they thought the hilly Olympic course would be perfect for her. She also said she would keep doing triathlons and duathlons.

In April 2016, Emma raced for the British national team at the 2016 Women's Tour de Yorkshire. She helped her teammate Alice Barnes finish fourth. In June 2016, her old team, Lotto–Soudal Ladies, announced Emma had rejoined them. She raced in the 2016 Giro d'Italia Femminile to help her teammate Claudia Lichtenberg. At the Olympics, Emma helped Lizzie Armitstead in the road race. In the time trial, Emma finished 14th.

Brompton World Championships (2018)

On July 28, 2018, Emma won the Brompton World Championships. This race was part of the Ride London event. Over 500 smartly-dressed people unfolded their bikes and raced around St James Park.

Everesting Record (2020)

On July 8, 2020, Emma set a new women's record for Everesting. This challenge involves repeatedly climbing a hill until you've climbed the same total height as Mount Everest (8,848 meters). Emma climbed the Haggenegg climb in Switzerland ten times. She did it in 8 hours, 53 minutes, and 36 seconds. This beat the previous record by over 14 minutes.

Emma's Running and Triathlon Career

Emma Pooley on her way to winning the 2017 Ventouxman triathlon

In October 2013, Emma won the Lausanne Marathon. Her time was 2 hours, 44 minutes, and 29 seconds. She also did well in triathlons. She was the top female at the first ever Swissman triathlon. She also came fifth in the Ironman Zurich event. After she retired from cycling, she won the 2014 Powerman Duathlon World Championships. She set a new course record and finished half an hour ahead of the second-place person.

In February 2015, Emma won the Challenge Philippines triathlon easily. She finished more than ten minutes ahead of the next competitor. The next month, she finished ninth at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships. Later that summer, Emma won the long course race at the Alpe d'Huez Triathlon and the Embrunman triathlon. She also successfully defended her Duathlon world title in September.

In March 2016, Emma won the Powerman Asia Duathlon Championships in Malaysia. She finished 16 minutes ahead of the second-place person. After the 2016 Olympics, she won her third straight long-distance duathlon world title in September. She won by eleven minutes.

Emma won another duathlon title in May 2017. She won the European Powerman Middle Distance Duathlon Championships. She finished almost nine minutes ahead of the second-place person. In September, she won her fourth straight Long Distance Duathlon World Championship. She finished 27 minutes ahead of the second-place person!

In 2021, Emma became the Swiss champion in long-distance trail running (50 km). She then won the 100 km Ultra Tour de Monte Rosa. In November 2022, she raced for the Swiss national team at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand. She finished 11th in the 80 km event.

Emma in the Media

On January 2, 2015, Emma was part of the winning team on Christmas University Challenge. She represented Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Her team beat other universities like Oxford and Edinburgh. Her teammates included a rower, a novelist, and an actor.

From February 2018 to March 2019, Emma worked as a presenter for Global Cycling Network.

Emma's Personal Life

Emma Pooley has lived in or near Zürich, Switzerland, since 2006. In December 2013, she finished her PhD in geotechnical engineering at ETH Zurich. Her supervisor was Sarah Springman, who was also a British triathlete. Emma has also received honorary doctorates from two other universities.

Emma's Achievements (Palmarès)

See also

In Spanish: Emma Pooley para niños