Vicky Holland (born 12 January 1986) is a British

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 is part of the

Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

team, a 2-time World Mixed Team Champion and the 2018 ITU WTS champion. She was born in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. She is the first female triathlete to win an Olympic medal for Great Britain, a bronze in 2016. In 2021, she competed 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 at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan. Holland also competes in Super League Triathlon.

Career

, Holland is tall and weighs . She is coached by Darren Smith. While at school Holland was a nationally ranked swimmer before moving to athletics and taking up the 1,500 metres. She didn't begin competing in triathlon until her second year at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

when she was approached by

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 ...

. In the 2010

ITU Triathlon World Cup The World Triathlon Cup is an annual series of triathlon races staged around the world. The series is organised by the World Triathlon, the world governing body of the sport. Inaugurated in 1991, the World Cup began as an attempt to create a regular ...

series Holland placed eighth overall, qualifying her for National Lottery funding as part of the World Class Performance scheme. At the 2011 ITU Triathlon World Cup event in

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Pa ...

, Hayes finished in 17th position in an event won by compatriot

Helen Jenkins Helen Rebecca Jenkins, ''née'' Tucker (born 8 March 1984) is Two-time Triathlon World Champion (2008 & 2011) Helen Jenkins is one of Britain’s most celebrated triathletes having represented Team GB at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 & 201 ...

over the course for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

leg of the ITU Triathlon World Cup, in May 2012, Holland placed fifth in an event that was won by Jenkins, with fellow British competitor Liz Blatchford finishing 16th. Later the same month at the Madrid event Holland finished seventh, again beating Blatchford who placed tenth. Holland was selected ahead of Blatchford to represent

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012 as the host nation and the team of selected athletes was o ...

in the women's triathlon alongside

and

Lucy Hall Lucy Hall (born 21 February 1992 in Leicester) is an English triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion ti ...

. The event took place in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

with the swim being held in the Serpentine. The cycle involved athletes leaving the park via Queen Mother's Gate, travelling through

Wellington Arch Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) as the Green Park Arch, is a Listed building, Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton that forms a centrepiece of Hyde Park Corner in central London, between corners of ...

, down Constitution Hill and on to

Birdcage Walk Birdcage Walk is a street in the City of Westminster in London. It runs east–west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, with the Treasury building and the Institution of Mec ...

in front of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

before returning to the park to complete the event with a four-lap run around the Serpentine. Holland completed the course in two hours, two minutes, and 55 seconds, 26th in the field. In 2012 and 2014, Holland became World Champion as part of the British Mixed Team Relay squad, and on 24 July 2014, Vicki secured her first major individual medal, with Bronze at the Commonwealth Games. Holland took gold in the mixed triathlon team relay at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with the Brownlee brothers,

Alistair Alistair is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic '' Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman French Alexandre or Latin Alexander, which was incorporated into English in the s ...

and Jonathan, and

Jodie Stimpson Jodie Lee Stimpson (born 8 February 1989) is a British professional triathlete who also currently competes in the Iron Man distance of the sport. In 2013, she finished runner up in the ITU World Triathlon Series. She has won 3 global titles du ...

. In April 2015 Holland took her first victory in the

World Triathlon Series The World Triathlon Championship Series is World Triathlon's annual series of triathlon events used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. There are multiple rounds of competitions culminating in a Grand Final race. Athletes compete head- ...

when she won the Cape Town round of the 2015 Series. She followed this up with a second World Series victory in Edmonton and third place in the Grand Final in Chicago which gave her fourth position overall for the year and qualification for the British Olympic team in Rio 2016. In 2021 Holland completed an all British podium, at Super League Triathlon, London, alongside

Jess Learmonth Jessica Learmonth (born 18 April 1988) is a British triathlete. Learmonth is a European, Commonwealth and World Triathlon Series medal winner based in Leeds, England where she trains at the Leeds Triathlon Centre. She won the European Triathlon ...

and

Georgia Taylor-Brown Georgia Taylor-Brown (born 15 March 1994) is a British triathlete. Having won bronze in the 2018 and 2019 World Triathlon Series, Taylor Brown won the one-off sprint triathlon race in Hamburg that constituted the 2020 World Triathlon Championsh ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Vicky 1986 births Living people English female triathletes Sportspeople from Gloucester Triathletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic triathletes of Great Britain Alumni of Loughborough University Commonwealth Games medallists in triathlon Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Triathletes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Triathletes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Team Bath athletes