Melissa Reid (paratriathlete)

Melissa Reid
Melissa Reid (paratriathlete)
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1990-11-15) 15 November 1990 (age 34)
Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Sport
SportParatriathlon
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Women's paratriathlon
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro PT5
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 London TRI 6b
Silver medal – second place 2012 Auckland TRI 6
Silver medal – second place 2014 Edmonton PT5
Silver medal – second place 2019 Lausanne PTVI
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rotterdam PT5
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Rotterdam PTVI
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Alanya TRI 6b
Gold medal – first place 2017 Kitzbühel PTVI
Silver medal – second place 2014 Kitzbühel PT5
Silver medal – second place 2016 Lisbon PT5
Silver medal – second place 2019 Valencia PTVI
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Geneva PT5
Women's para-aquathlon
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Auckland TRI 6
Gold medal – first place 2013 London TRI 6b
Gold medal – first place 2014 Edmonton PT5
Gold medal – first place 2015 Chicago PT5

Melissa Reid (born 15 November 1990)[1] is a visually impaired British paratriathlete who competes in the PTVI classification.[2] She is a Paralympic bronze medallist and a former World and European Champion.[2] She is based in Falmouth in Cornwall.[3][4]

Career

Reid competes with a guide athlete in the PTVI category and was first selected for the British Triathlon Paratriathlon squad in 2012 having finished second at the 2011 ITU World Championship Series in London.[5] Reid won her first national gold at the GBR Paratriathlon National Championships in 2013.[6] She became ITU World Champion in 2013 and won the ETU European Championships in 2013 and 2017. She also competed for ParalympicsGB and won a bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games in 2016 in the Women's PT5 class for visually impaired athletes.[7]

The 2017 season, saw her win gold at the Kitzbühel ETU Triathlon European Championships,[8] she also won two bronze medals one at the Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon Series[9] and one at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Rotterdam.[10] Reid suffered a prolapsed disc towards the tail end of 2017 which put her out of contention for 18 months.[2]

Despite the injury, her 2019 return saw her win two golds at the Besançon ITU Paratriathlon World Cup[11] and the Magog ITU Paratriathlon World Cup.[12] Reid went on to claim three consecutive silvers at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Lausanne,[13][14] Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup[15] and the Valencia ETU Paratriathlon European Championships[16] in 2019.

During the COVID-19 lockdown she decided to switch her guide partner to Hazel Smith[3] who had experience working with paratriathlete Alison Peasgood (then Alison Patrick) when she became world champion.[17] Together they had to work out how they could train together for each of the three disciplines.[3]

Early life

Reid was born in Nottinghamshire and moved to Cornwall when she was ten. She is a member of Gyllngvase club and was introduced to triathlon by her father, having previously taken part in surfing, swimming and surf life saving.[2]

Competitions

The following list of results.[18] Unless indicated otherwise, the competitions are triathlons.

Date Competition Rank
2019-09-14 Valencia ETU Paratriathlon European Championships 2
2019-09-01 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Lausanne 2
2019-08-17 Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup 2
2019-07-13 Magog ITU Paratriathlon World Cup 1
2019-06-16 Besançon ITU Paratriathlon World Cup 1
2019-05-18 Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon Series 3
2017-09-15 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Rotterdam 3
2017-06-16 Kitzbuhel ETU Triathlon European Championships 1
2017-05-13 Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon Series 3

DNF = Did not finish

DNS = Did not start

DSQ = Disqualified

References

  1. ^ "www.britishtriathlon.org/gb-teams/elite-team/athletes/melissa-reid_4364". britishtriathlon.org. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Melissa Reid". www.britishtriathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Falmouth-based paratriathlete embracing lockdown challenge as Tokyo Paralympics looms". Falmouth Packet. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Melissa Reid - Great Britain Paratriathlete". teammissi.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: Paratriathlon Female TRI-6 | 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series London". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: Paratriathlon Female TRI-6b | 2013 GBR Paratriathlon National Championships". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Athlete Profile: Melissa Reid B3". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2017 Kitzbühel ETU Triathlon European Championships". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  9. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2017 Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon Series". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  10. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2017 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Rotterdam". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  11. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2019 Besancon ITU Paratriathlon World Cup". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  12. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2019 Magog ITU Paratriathlon World Cup". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  13. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2019 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Lausanne". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  14. ^ "ParalympicsGB | Seven medals for gb in lausanne". ParalympicsGB. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  15. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2019 Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  16. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Results: PTVI Women | 2019 Valencia ETU Paratriathlon European Championships". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Swim, Bike and Rerun: 2016 Rotterdam ITU Paratriathlon World Championships". www.britishtriathlon.org. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  18. ^ Union, International Triathlon. "Triathlon.org". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.