Katherine Jessie Jean "Kate" Allen (born 25 April 1970, in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, Australia) is an Australian-Austrian

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

. She won the gold medal in the women's

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Early life

Kate Allen grew up on a sheep-farming property with her three brothers at

Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls ...

in southeastern Australia. From an early age her parents encouraged her to run, and she used to frequently jog to primary school some 3 kilometres from home. At the age of four Allen began participating in Little Athletics at Landy Field in

. She competed in junior athletics until the age of 14, winning a number of championships over 1500 m and 'cross-country' distance. Allen also enjoyed

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

in her early years, a sport that would prove important to her coordination skills during her triathlon career. Allen graduated from

Ballarat University The University of Ballarat, Australia was a dual-sector university with multiple campuses in Victoria, Australia, including its main Ballarat campus, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide that were authorized by the university to provide diploma, unde ...

as a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

at age 20. She then travelled overseas. During one of her trips she met Marcel Diechtler in

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbühel district (). Kitzbühel ...

, whom she married in 1999, who was a triathlon competitor for Austria. Diechtler encouraged Allen to take up triathlon, beginning in 1996.

Triathlon career

After some years of successful racing around Europe with her former coach Mario Huys Allen received Austrian citizenship in 2002 and started racing in the World Cup. She took silver in only her third World Cup in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany and won silver at the European Championships in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, Spain. Just eight years after beginning the sport, Allen won the 2004 Olympic triathlon in

. At the end of the swim leg Allen was in 44th place in the field of 51. After the bicycle leg she was in 28th. During the run she progressively overtook twenty seven competitors to power past then-leader Australian

Loretta Harrop Loretta "Loz" Harrop (born July 17, 1975, in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian triathlete. As a teenager she attended Cavendish Road State High School along with her siblings and as of 2007 has a house named after her. Harr ...

just 150 metres from the finish line, winning the race in emphatic style. Alongside her Olympic distance triathlon career, Allen showed several strong performances in racing at the

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

distance. In 2002, she recorded the fastest Ironman debut time ever, completing the course in 8:58:24. She topped her performance in 2003, finishing in 8:54:01 hours, a personal record that still stands. After the Olympic Games in Athens it was Allen's plan to only race at Ironman distances for 2005–2006, with the aim of winning the

Ironman World Championships The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. After finishing 7th in 2002, Allen placed 5th in both 2005 and 2006. During the ITU New Plymouth BG Triathlon World Cup in New Zealand in April 2008, Allen had a bike crash at and suffered serious injuries. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, she ranked 14th. Achievements: Kate Allen Nacht des Sports 2008

2002 * 2nd place, Ironman Austria,

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

/Austria (08:58:24 hrs. - fastest Ironman debut in history) * 7th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/United States (09:38:40 hrs.) 2003 * 1st place, Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt/Austria (08:54:01 hrs.) * 1st place, ITU Triathlon International race,

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

/Switzerland * 2nd place, ITU Triathlon World Cup,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

/Germany * 4th place, ITU Triathlon World Cup,

Makuhari is a community in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is within Hanamigawa-ku and Mihama-ku. The seaside area of Makuhari was reclaimed from the sea. The district was constructed in a span of 10 years. Steven Poole, author of ''Trigger Happ ...

/Japan * 6th place, ITU Triathlon World Cup,

/Australia * Austrian Champion 2003 Triathlon Olympic Distance * Austrian Champion 2003 Triathlon Ironman Distance 2004 * Olympic Champion,

/Greece * Vice-European Champion,

/Spain * Austrian Sports Personality of the Year 2005 * 1st place, Ironman Austria, Klagenfurt/Austria (9:07:03 hrs.) * 5th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/USA (9:22:08 hrs.) 2006 * 1st place, Vienna City half-marathon (1:14:24 hrs.) * 5th place, Ironman Hawaii, Kona/USA (9:30:22 hrs.) 2007 * Vice-European Champion,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

/Denmark * Vice-European Champion Team, Copenhagen/Danmark * 3rd place, ITU Triathlon World Cup,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

/United Kingdom 2008 * 8th place, World Championships Vancouver/Canada * 14th place, Beijing Olympics

Awards

In 2004, Kate Allen received the "

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

" (''Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich''). She was voted 2004

Austrian Sportspersonality of the year The Austrian Sports Personality of the Year is chosen annually since 1949. Recordholders are Annemarie Moser-Pröll (seven awards) and Marcel Hirscher (six awards). In 1978 and 1979 the Austria national football team was named Austrian Sports Team ...

and also received the

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

"SportStar Award 2004".

References

External links

*
Official website

Athlete Biography
at beijing2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Kate 1970 births Living people Austrian female triathletes Olympic triathletes for Austria Triathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Austria Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria Sportspeople from Geelong Olympic medalists in triathlon Federation University Australia alumni Australian emigrants to Austria Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics