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 on October 3, 1982, is an amazing athlete from Great Britain and Switzerland. She used to be a professional cyclist, especially good at time trials (races against the clock) and climbing hills. Later, she switched to long-distance running, duathlon (running and cycling), and triathlon (swimming, cycling, and running).

Emma became a four-time world champion in long-distance duathlon. She also competes in mountain running and has represented Switzerland in world trail running championships.

In 2008, she won an Olympic silver medal in cycling's time trial event. She also became the world time trial champion in 2010. Emma won six major one-day cycling races and several stage races, which are races with multiple days of competition. These included the ten-day Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin. She was also the British time trial champion three times and the British road race champion in 2010.

After the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Emma stopped professional cycling to focus on triathlon, duathlon, and long-distance running. She had already won the Lausanne Marathon and the Swissman triathlon the year before. In September 2014, she won the ITU Powerman Duathlon World Championships at Powerman Zofingen, and won it again in 2015.

In December 2015, Emma announced she would temporarily return to cycling. She wanted to try and qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The Olympic time trial course was very hilly, which suited her strengths. She rejoined her old team, Lotto–Soudal Ladies, in June 2016 for the 2016 Giro Rosa. After the Olympics, she went back to duathlon and won two more world championship titles at Powerman Zofingen in 2016 and 2017. She also won a European middle-distance duathlon title in 2017.

Emma Pooley was one of the people who started Le Tour Entier. This group worked to create a Women's Tour de France and improve women's cycling in general.

Early Life and Education

Emma was born in Wandsworth, London, and grew up in Norwich. She went to Norwich High School for Girls and Norwich School. In 2001, she started studying mathematics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. She later changed her focus to engineering and graduated with top honors in 2005.

She started cycling at university after getting hurt while cross-country running. At Cambridge, she earned special awards called "blues" for her achievements in cross-country running, triathlon, and cycling.

Cycling Career Highlights

Starting Out: 2005 to 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 helped her teammate Nicole Cooke at the world championships that year but crashed during the race. In 2006, she rode for the same team, which was based in Belgium.

For 2007, she joined Team Specialized Designs for Women, a team from Switzerland. She won her first international race, Stage 3 of the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen. She rode 120 kilometers by herself to win, which became a common way for her to win races. She represented Great Britain at the 2007 World Championships, finishing 8th in the time trial and 9th in the road race. This helped Great Britain get spots in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In 2008, she won the Trofeo Alfredo Binda UCI Road World Cup in Italy, again by riding alone ahead of the pack. She finished 23rd in the Olympic road race on August 11, 2008, where she helped Nicole Cooke win a gold medal. Her biggest success that summer was on August 13 in the time trial, where she won a silver medal.

Major Wins: 2009 to 2012

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

In 2009, Emma joined the Cervélo Test Team. She won the national time trial championships that year. She also won several one-day races like the Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal, GP de Plouay, and Grand Prix Costa Etrusca. She won the last ever Grande Boucle Féminine, which was once called "the women's Tour de France." Because of money problems, the 2009 Grande Boucle only had four stages. Emma joked that it was "more of a Petite Boucle than Grande." She also led the Giro d'Italia Femminile for three stages. She finished fourth overall after losing time because she wasn't very good at riding downhill. She improved this skill after 2009 with help from her coach and a sports psychiatrist.

The year 2010 was full of big successes for Emma. In May, she won her first major stage race, the final Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin. This was the longest-running event on the women's cycling calendar. In June, she won another top stage race, the Giro del Trentino Alto Adige-Südtirol. She also won two UCI Women's Road World Cup one-day 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 the British national time trial champion for the second year in a row and also won her only national road race championship. She ended 2010 ranked 5th in the world, her highest cycling ranking ever. She received an award for being the best British cyclist that year.

Pooley competing in the 2012 Olympics time trial in London

In March 2011, Emma won the one-day Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup race for the second time, again with a long solo ride. She broke her collarbone in April, so she couldn't race again until May. Later that year, she won the hilly Tour de l'Ardèche stage race in France. She also finished second to Marianne Vos in the Giro d'Italia Femminile. She repeated both of these achievements in 2012.

After her team stopped at the end of 2011, Emma joined the Dutch team 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 Women's road race. Emma finished sixth in the Women's time trial.

Later Cycling Years: 2013 to 2018

In 2013, Emma took a step back from full-time professional racing. She joined the Swiss team Bigla Cycling Team so she could focus on finishing her PhD in geotechnical engineering. Even with less racing, she won four international races, including the six-stage Tour Languedoc Roussillon in May.

In September 2013, Emma joined other professional 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 famous race.

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 silver medals in both the women's road time trial and road race at the Commonwealth Games. She also helped her England teammate Lizzie Armitstead win the road race gold medal.

Emma returned to competitive cycling in October 2015, finishing sixth in a time trial race. In December 2015, she said she would try to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She felt the hilly Olympic time trial course suited her well. She also planned to continue competing in triathlon and duathlon in 2016. In April 2016, she raced in the 2016 Women's Tour de Yorkshire and helped her teammate Alice Barnes finish fourth. In June 2016, her old team Lotto–Soudal Ladies announced Emma had rejoined them for the rest of the season. She raced in the 2016 Giro d'Italia Femminile to help her teammate Claudia Lichtenberg. At the Olympics, Emma helped Armitstead in the road race. In the time trial, she finished 14th.

On July 28, 2018, Emma won the Brompton World Championships. This event is part of the Ride London event, where over 500 smartly-dressed people unfold their bikes and race around St James Park.

Everesting Record: 2020

On July 8, 2020, Emma Pooley set a new women's record for Everesting. This challenge involves repeatedly climbing a hill until the total elevation gain equals the height of Mount Everest (8,848 meters). She climbed the Haggenegg climb in Switzerland ten times in 8 hours, 53 minutes, and 36 seconds. This beat the previous women's record.

Running and Triathlon Career

Pooley on her way to winning the 2017 Ventouxman triathlon

In October 2013, Emma won the Lausanne Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 44 minutes, and 29 seconds. She also did well in triathlon, finishing as the top woman at the first Swissman triathlon and fifth in the Ironman Zurich event. After retiring from cycling, she won the 2014 Powerman Duathlon World Championships in Zofingen, Switzerland, on her first try. She set a new course record and finished half an hour ahead of the second-place finisher.

In February 2015, Emma won the Challenge Philippines triathlon by more than ten minutes. The next month, she finished ninth at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Melbourne. 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 easily won the Powerman Asia Duathlon Championships in Malaysia, finishing 16 minutes ahead of the second-place runner. After her appearance at the 2016 Olympics, she won her third straight long-distance duathlon world title in September, finishing eleven minutes ahead of the next competitor.

Emma won another international duathlon title in May 2017, taking the European Powerman Middle Distance Duathlon Championships in Sankt Wendel. She finished almost nine minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. She then won her fourth straight Long Distance Duathlon World Championship in September, finishing 27 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.

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, finishing 11th in the 80 km event.

Media Work

On January 2, 2015, Emma Pooley was part of the winning team on Christmas University Challenge. She represented Trinity Hall, Cambridge and her team beat other universities.

Between February 2018 and March 2019, Emma worked as a presenter for Global Cycling Network, a popular cycling media channel.

Personal Life

Emma Pooley has lived in or near Zürich, Switzerland, since 2006. In December 2013, she finished her doctorate degree in geotechnical engineering at ETH Zurich. Her supervisor was Sarah Springman, a former British triathlete. Emma has also received honorary doctorates from the University of East Anglia in 2012 and the University of Strathclyde in 2015.

Achievements and Awards

See also

In Spanish: Emma Pooley para niños