Kelly Williamson (née Handel, born December 5, 1977) is an American

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 ...

who races in non-drafting, long-course events. In 2012, she took 2nd place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

Athletic career

Williamson was raised in

Zionsville, Indiana Zionsville is a suburban town located in the extreme southeast area of Boone County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. The population was 14,160 at the 2010 census, 30,693 at the 2020 census, and grew to 33,891 in the 2022 esti ...

before moving to Illinois to attend college at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

. She attended on a swimming scholarship and served as the swim team captain for two years while studying kinesiology. As a swimmer she focused on the 1650 and 500 free, the 200 fly, and the 400 IM. In 2002, following college, Williamson was invited to the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Sprin ...

(OTC) in Colorado Springs by

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee an ...

after being identified as potential elite young talent at Olympic distance triathlon racing. She had experienced some early success in triathlon after college swimming, where she used triathlon as a new way to stay active and satisfy her enjoyment of athletic training. At the OTC she trained for two years while competing on the

International Triathlon Union World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations. World Triathlon hosts the top ...

(ITU) racing circuit. During this time she won the 2002 Pan American ITU Regional Championships and was named the 2002 Elite Rookie Triathlete of the Year. In 2005, Williamson began coaching after suffering an injury in a bike crash that kept her out of competition for most of 2005. This down time allowed her to evaluate her triathlon career and to pursue non-drafting triathlon racing after she found that she wasn't enjoying the ITU racing style despite her initial success in 2002. Williamson moved to Austin, Texas with her husband and began racing Ironman and half-Ironman distances, and saw her results steadily improve each year. In 2012, Williamson by her own admission was having the best season of her professional career and had a 2nd-place finish at the 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Championship where she had the fastest run time of the day. However, she finished a "disappointing" 15th place a month later at the

2012 Ironman World Championship The 2012 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on October 13, 2012 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The championship won by Pete Jacobs of Australia and Leanda Cave of England. It was the 36th such Ironman Triathlon Wor ...

, her third appearance at the championship event. In May 2014, Williamson won her first Ironman distance race at Ironman Texas, posting the only sub-3 hour marathon by a female in the race.

Notable results

Williamson's notable achievements include:

References

External links

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ITU Results - HandelITU Results - Williamson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Kelly 1977 births Living people Illinois Fighting Illini women's swimmers American female triathletes People from Zionsville, Indiana Sportspeople from the Indianapolis metropolitan area Sportspeople from Indiana