SPIRIG Nicola

General
IRONMAN CHALLENGE
In January 2021 she announced her intention to complete an Ironman triathlon [2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile marathon run] in less than eight hours. She and British triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay set themselves the challenge, while male triathletes Kristian Blummenfelt and Alistair Brownlee said they would target a sub-seven hour Ironman triathlon. The quartet were inspired by Kenyan distance runner Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two hour marathon in 2019 and the project aims to collect funds for the Pho3nix Foundation, a charity that supports sporting participation among young people. "This might be the hardest challenge of my career, but also the most rewarding if I'm able to show others what is possible." (bbc.co.uk, 16 Feb 2021; tri247.com, 27 Jan 2021; nicolaspirig.ch, 27 Jan 2021)

BOBSLEIGH EXPERIENCE
In 2015, she and Swiss heptathlete Linda Zublin were invited by Swiss bobsleigh pilot Beat Hefti to join him and brakeman Alex Baumann to compete in the four-man event at the 2015 World Cup event in St Moritz, Switzerland, where they placed 27th. "I thought if I could help Beat in this matter, I would gladly do so. I am someone who likes to experience different things in sports and participating in a World Cup round is, of course, great. On the first descent, I suffered some criticism that I had not pushed hard enough and ran too far. I had already done bobsled descents as a passenger, but I had to assimilate the thrust and entry into the machine and, of course, it went much faster than in an initiation." (SportsDeskOnline 05 Jul 2021; lematin.ch, 21 Jan 2015)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Since 2014 she has run the Nicola Spirig Kids Cup at different locations in Switzerland. The competition is part of the Nicola Spirig Foundation, which aims to motivate children to take up triathlon by introducing them to the sport. (nicolaspirig.ch, 20 Jun 2021; nicolaspirig-kidscup.ch, 01 Jan 2016)

When she competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she became the first female triathlete representing Switzerland to compete at four editions of the Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Jul 2021)

By winning individual silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she also became the first triathlete representing Switzerland to win two Olympic medals. She had previously taken individual gold at the 2012 Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Jul 2021)