Olympic triathlete to race U Sports Cross-Country Championships

Olympic triathlete Paula Findlay is on the start list for Sunday’s U Sports Cross-Country Championships.

The accomplished multi-sport athlete will race compete in her third national university cross-country championships for Alberta. She hasn’t raced for the university at the national level in nine years. In the previous two championship races, Findlay finished no worse than fourth overall.

The Edmonton native finished runner-up, as a rookie, the last time Victoria, specifically Beacon Hill Park, hosted the Canadian university cross-country championships in 2007. Another rookie that year, Guelph’s Lindsay Carson, won what was then-known as the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) Championships. Then, women raced 5K. On Sunday, the distance will be 8K.

Findlay, now 28, finished fourth a year later at the 2008 national university cross-country championships. She’s raced sparingly in cross-country races since though finished 13th at the 2014 Canadian Open Cross-Country Championships in Vancouver.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbVRJgshJmp/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaNFfKPh64u/

In 2010, Findlay became the first Canadian woman to win a World Triathlon Series (WTS) event. In 2011, she won three consecutive WTS events to begin the year and went on to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

This year’s national university championships marks her third year of eligibility, out of a possible five, within the U Sports system.

Find out to follow the U Sports Cross-Country Championships from Victoria here.