Non Stanford (born 8 January 1989) is a British former professional

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 ...

, representing Great Britain and Wales at international level. Stanford was the ITU (now

World Triathlon World Triathlon, previously known as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the Multisport race, multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other triathlon#Nonsta ...

) World Champion in 2013, part of the Great Britain world champion mixed relay team in 2012 and represented

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

at the 2016

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, where she finished fourth behind teammate and housemate

Vicky Holland Vicky Holland (born 12 January 1986) is a British triathlete who is part of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team, a 2-time World Mixed Team Champion and the 2018 ITU WTS champion. She was born in Gloucester. She is the first fema ...

. In her final year of competition, 2022, she anchored

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

to silver in the team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, her first Commonwealth medal and her first major championship medal since 2015 World Triathlon mixed relay bronze. One week later, in her final major Olympic distance triathlon race, Stanford won her first European championship. Non Stanford is based in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and was born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

. Non is a Welsh name, and refers to

Saint Non Non (also Nonna or Nonnita) was, according to Christian tradition, the mother of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales. Legend The ''Life of St David'' was written around 1095 by Rhigyfarch, and is our main source of knowledge for the lives ...

Personal life

Stanford was born in

, but grew up in nearby

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. Her first club was Swansea Harriers. Stanford graduated from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

with a degree in Sport and Exercises Sciences in 2010.

Career

Stanford was a successful

cross country runner Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

; she was Welsh Schools 1,500m champion in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Stanford was picked out as a bright young running talent in 2004 when she was invited to join

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set Briti ...

on the first ever 'On Camp with Kelly' in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. In 2006, she finished 3rd in the 3000m (senior) at the

AAA Indoor championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fol ...

. Stanford started studying Sport and Exercises Sciences at the

and in summer 2008 joined the university's triathlon club, changing her focus from

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

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 ...

after a series of injuries kept her off the track. In the 2009 British Triathlon Super Series she came second, and in 2009/10 was awarded the 'Paul Weston Triathlon Scholarship' to concentrate on triathlon. After graduating in 2010, she won a bronze medal at the Brasschaat ITU Triathlon Premium European Cup. In the same year Stanford also took part in the prestigious French Club Championship Series Lyonnaise des Eaux and represented Montpellier Agglo Tri. Her current French Grand Prix team is the TCG 79 Parthenay team. Stanford relocated to the

British Triathlon The British Triathlon Federation (formerly the British Triathlon Association) is the national governing body for triathlon, duathlon and associated multisport in Great Britain. It administers triathlon in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel ...

base at

Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

at the Leeds Triathlon Centre. The 2012 season was a breakthrough year for her as she won senior gold in the Stockholm ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships and U23 gold at the Barfoot and Thompson World Triathlon Grand Final Auckland. The 2013 season started with a win at ITU World Triathlon Madrid, before going on to take the title of ITU World Champion at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final London. That season Stanford also achieved silver medals at the ITU World Triathlon San Diego, ITU World Triathlon Hamburg and ITU World Triathlon Stockholm. Due to injury, Stanford's entire 2014 season was missed, but she came back strongly in 2015 to finish 2nd at both the Rio Olympic Test Event and the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Chicago – securing Olympic selection in the process. 2016 started successfully for Stanford, as she opened her season with a win at ITU World Triathlon Cape Town. Competing in her first

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in Rio August 2016, she finished in 4th place. Stanford joined

ECS Triathlon Espérance cycliste Sartrouville Triathlon or ECS Triathlon is a French sports club based in the suburbs of Paris, commune of Sartrouville. The club's specialization is triathlon for elite level athletes, especially Olympians. Team members have ...

club in 2016. 2017 was again affected by injury, but she did achieve a win at Chengdu ITU Triathlon World Cup. The 2018 season saw Stanford win two silver medals at the Cape Town ITU Triathlon World Cup and ITU World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series Nottingham. She also secured a bronze medal at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama. Stanford also captained Team

at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. In 2019 Stanford left the Brownlee Centre in

and joined an international group of elite triathletes under coach Joel Filliol. The season saw her win gold at the 2019 Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon. At the end of 2019 Stanford underwent knee surgery to remove damaged

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

. She competed at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

where she came 6th in the

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

event. After winning a silver medal for Wales in the mixed triathlon relay at the same Games, she went on to win the Europe Triathlon Championships, and announced her retirement. Stanford accepted a coaching role at the Leeds headquarters of

to follow her retirement from elite competition

Palmares

The following is a list of podium finishes in World Triathlon Series, WTS Mixed Relay Series and championship events. Results in Bold represent Championship races or overall positions

Notes

External links

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Non Stanford
at

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Non 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Swansea Alumni of the University of Birmingham Welsh female triathletes Triathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic triathletes of Great Britain Triathletes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Triathletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in triathlon Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales