Beth Potter is now a double Olympic Games triathlon medallist – eight years on from deciding to go all in on swim/bike/run after representing Team GB in athletics at Rio 2016. That one massive career decision has paid off…and then some!

Twelve months on from becoming World Triathlon champion in Pontevedra in 2023, the super Scot claimed bronze medals in both the women’s individual and the Mixed Relay races at Paris 2024.

Beth was initially a physics teacher after leaving university, but combined this with training as an elite runner. Aged 22, she competed on home soil for Scotland in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth in the 10,000m and ninth in the 5,000m. 

She said: “I think that was a really breakthrough moment for me. It was a bit of a turning point in my career.” 

This performance prompted a shift into full-time athletics and competing in the 10,000m at Rio 2016, but it was a year later that she took the plunge and moved to Leeds to focus on triathlon. This proved a decision which is still paying dividends. 

Potter said: “I had all these people, like Olympians and Olympic level coaches, who encouraged me to come to Leeds, lift my whole life up and move here. 

“I thought, well they’re not going to support me and they’re not going to help me if they don’t think I’m going to be half-decent doing triathlon.” 

Beth Potter record and results

Beth Potter’s elite triathlon debut in August 2017 saw her finish 11th in an ETU sprint European Cup race at Wuustwezel. A month later, and in only her second outing, she recorded her first victory – in another European Cup race at Funchal in Portugal. She clocked a solid 1:01:36 time overall, but it was her 16:44 5km run which did the damage. 

Potter was soon competing at the Commonwealth Games, where she broke the hour-barrier for the first time, clocking 59:50 for her 12th place. She followed this up with seventh place in the mixed relay. 

Beth only achieved one podium placing in 2018, a runner-up spot at the Antwerp ITU Triathlon World Cup race in 1:03:11, but she thrust herself into the spotlight in May 2019 when she used her 10km run speed (33:23) to full advantage to win the ETU Triathlon European Championships at Weert in the Netherlands. 

The Scottish athlete began 2020 with second place in the ETU Duathlon European Championships and soon became a genuine contender at ITU level. This was underlined when she won the ITU at Valencia (56:35) in November, having finished second at the same level the previous month at Arzachena. 

Potter’s rapid progress continued in 2021, culminating in World Triathlon Cup victories at Haeundae (56:25) and Tongyeong (58:08). 

Having raised the bar further in 2022, Beth broke in to the world’s top 10. She won the Europe Triathlon Cup in Quarteira in March, following that up with a win and two second places to secure Arena Games series title and then that Commonwealth Games bronze in Birmingham.

In 2023, Potter really announced herself on the world stage, winning her first race of the year at WTCS Abu Dhabi, before also taking the win at the Arena Games Triathlon Finals in London.

Sixth at WTCS Cagliari preceded another win at WTCS Montreal, before she finished second at WTCS Hamburg. At the Paris Test Event in August, Potter took a memorable victory ahead of home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand to qualify for her second Olympic Games and put herself in the driver’s seat to contend for the 2023 WTCS title.

At the Grand Final in Pontevedra, Potter clinched her maiden world title with a fantastic performance, pulling clear from Beaugrand and British compatriot Kate Waugh on the run to take the tape and finish the year as the best Olympic distance triathlete in the world.

In 2024, Potter started the Olympic year with a win over fellow gold medal favourite Beaugrand at the E World Triathlon Championship in London, before finishing third at WTCS Cagliari behind Beaugrand and German Lisa Tertsch.

Then came that epic week in Paris which saw her claim not one, but two, shiny new Olympic medals.

Medallist at Paris 2024

Potter went into the women’s individual race at Paris 2024 as one of the favourites for gold – in fact many expected the race to glory to be between her and French star Cassandre Beaugrand.

That is almost exactly the way it played out on the morning of August 31, 2024 after an epic trace in the French capital. After a brutal swim and a challenging bike leg in slippery conditions, the medals all came down to the run with Potter at the front along with Beaugrand, Swiss surprise package Julie Derron and another French star in the shape of Emma Lombardi.

In the end Beth did not have quite the finishing kick to claim gold, settling for a huge creditable bronce behind Beaugrand and Derron while Lombardi just missed out on a medal.

Five days later Potter was on the podium again as Great Britain claimed a bronze following a thrilling battle to the line with Germany and the United States. She just lost out to Laura Lindemann and Taylor Knibb in the closest of finishes. In fact Britain were initially awarded silver before a photo finish showed that Knibb had pipped Beth for second place.

Beth Potter running

Beth Potter was a successful runner long before she caught the eye as a triathlete, but she is best known in recent years for a remarkable performance at the Podium 5K race in Barrowford in April 2021. 

With World Athletics only having recently begun recording 5km records on the road, Potter’s clocking of 14:41 gave her an unofficial world best time. The low-level meeting did not have the necessary equipment or infrastructure to be eligible for world records and Potter’s mark has since been surpassed. But it still counts as a British best, faster than Eilish McColgan and Paula Radcliffe have run. 

Potter impressed as a junior track and cross country runner and was twice Scottish Schools 1,500m champion. She continued to progress through the ranks, ultimately representing GB in the European and World Cross Country Championships and winning Scottish titles. 

Commonwealth and Olympic Games appearances followed on the track in 2014 and 2016 plus the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017. Potter doubled up with 10,000m on the track and triathlon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but this was her last international running appearance to date. 

Beth Potter gear 

Potter uses HUUB wetsuits. She rides Factor Bikes’ ONE and OSTRO VAM models and uses Cadex wheels and tyres. Beth runs in Asics Meta shoes and uses Garmin GPS equipment to monitor her performance.