Beth Potter: Scottish triathlete aims for Paris 2024 after world title

Before switching to triathlon, Beth Potter did not even own a bike. Now, she is the world champion and has her eyes set on the podium at the Paris Olympics.

The Scot, 32, has completed a remarkable transformation from the track to triathlon in the past seven years, going from 10,000m heartbreak in Rio to the top of her new sport.

Not many would have had the bravery or belief to take on the challenge, but luckily Potter has both in abundance. But is even she surprised at her own success?

"Not really," she smiles. "People always laugh when I say that. But I had the belief I could be good and a lot of backing from my coaches and my friends and guys I train with.

"I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when it was going to come. But I was confident I could get there, it was just a matter of when really."

Confidence and gutsy determination have anchored her journey, which started after her 34th-place finish in the 10,000m at the 2016 Olympics.

Illness struck the night before the race, but overall Potter was left cold by the whole experience.

"I just didn't know if it was for me any more," she explains. "I really wanted to perform on the global stage and felt like I wasn't good enough on the track to do that.

"I wanted a global medal. I wanted to be the best in the world. And I felt like that was unachievable on the track."

Almost immediately she started having conversations about changing to triathlon.

Although she had not done competitive swimming for eight years, Potter had a talent for it growing up in Bearsden, Glasgow, before opting to take running more seriously.

So it was the cycling element that was the missing piece.

Sure she could ride a bike, but she did not own one and had never been clipped in to a proper road racer before. Potter, though, thought she could learn and besides, what did she have to lose?

Having balanced running with her work as a physics teacher in a secondary school, soon she was in a full-time performance environment in Leeds working alongside Britain's esteemed triathlon group, including the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny.

The results were far from instant.

"I spent a lot of time in my first couple of years in Leeds doubting myself and thinking: 'was it the right choice?' Especially after disappointing races," she says.

"I felt like I couldn't utilise my run because my bike and my swim weren't there yet. So it's been a lesson in patience as well, which is something I'm not good at, but it's taught me to trust the process and believe in my training.

"I had a lot of doubters and questions, like 'why are you doing this?' But I felt like I needed to give it a certain amount of time to see how good I could get."

That perseverance paid off as, slowly at first, results started coming in. There was a gold at the European Triathlon Championships in 2019, then a World Cup win the following year and a first World Series top-10 finish.

There was more Olympic disappointment when she missed out on selection for the Tokyo Games, which eventually took place in 2021.

However, Potter just kept at it and, crucially, kept getting better. The medals started to mount, culminating in her crowning moment in Pontevedra, Spain, at the end of September when she won the world title.

It was done in typical fashion for Potter, too. Trailing after the swim, she battled back on the bike and stormed away from the pack on the run. A fitting way for her to triumph.

"I felt at the start of last season I could get on the top step of the podium at a race this year," she says. "I didn't expect to win four races and come away with the world title so that was a really nice surprise at the end of the year.

"It's all been a bit of whirlwind. I still laugh because I was training the other day, up and down the pool, and nobody treats me any differently. Why should they? I'm still the same person, I just have a world title now, but I do the same things every day, treat training the same. I'm still the same Beth."

That victory has booked Potter's place at the Paris Olympics this year where she will aim to uphold Britain's tradition of winning medals - no nation has won more in triathlon since it was introduced in Sydney in 2000.

She won the test event around the Paris Olympic course, which also bodes well.

Potter pays tribute to her friends, family, and coaches for continually supporting her. She has worked with a sports psychologist to help her overcome nerves which can plague her before big races.

Determined to have a better Olympics experience this time around, Potter says there is also the potential to win a medal in the relay event.

"It's going to be tough, it'll be a good battle," she says. "Nothing is guaranteed but I feel like ironically the pressure is off me a little bit.

"I've won a big thing and I know I can do it. It's just about preparing as best I can and I hope it's a close race."

Pushed on whether she believes she will have a gold medal around her neck come August, Potter laughs: "Yeah, hopefully two!"

With her talent, grit, and steely inner belief, you would be a fool to bet against it.