Melanie Burke is an athlete from New Zealand. She has been a national champion or New Zealand representative in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

duathlon Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally. Distance and format ...

, and

Ironman triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consider ...

. Burke grew up on a farm in near

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

, New Zealand. She moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 2001. In her early sports career Burke specialised in rowing. By age 24, she had placed fourth and fifth in the coxless fours at consecutive world championships. She was invited to trial for 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), ...

team, however in the absence of a coxless fours event, she decided to move into athletics and running instead. Burke ran, and won, a number of

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

s before Bike New Zealand approached her to trial as a road cyclist. Burke was immediately successful, but, because she didn't want to travel overseas for cycling events, she changed her focus again, to multisports. In 2011 Burke competed in the ITU Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships in Switzerland and won the event. In 2012 she competed again, finishing seventh. In 2013 she won the New Zealand national women's

title. In 2014 she competed in the World Ironman Triathlon Championships in Kona, Hawai`i.

References

Living people New Zealand female triathletes Sportspeople from Whanganui New Zealand female rowers Rowers from Whanganui Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand women New Zealand female marathon runners {{NewZealand-triathlon-bio-stub