Natascha
Badmann
Switzerland
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Ironman
Date of birth | 6 December 1966 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Basel, Switzerland |
Age | 59 |
Nationality | Switzerland |
Discipline | Triathlon Ironman |
Natascha Badmann is a legend in the field of women's triathlon. Twice named as the Swiss Sportswoman of the Year, she was not only the first European woman to win the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, but she's also a six-time World Champion, having won the Hawaii Ironman in 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
She's also one of only four women in the history of Ironman to win the title more than three times and only stepped away from the professional scene in 2016 at the age of 50, an incredible 20 years after her first race in Hawaii. There could have been more titles in her illustrious career, but a serious fall at the Ironman Hawaii 2007 grounded Natascha just as she appeared to be on her way to another victory. After numerous operations and a year of recovery, she fought her way back as one of the world's best female triathletes once again.
After having a baby at 18, her real interest in sports only began at the age of 24. But within a few years, she finished second in the European Duathlon Championship and turned her calling into her profession. As Natascha's international success grew with a Duathlon World Championship and Long Distance Duathlon World Championship, so did her physical and mental strength.
No one can rival Natascha when it comes to taking the most strenuous exertion, turning it into a positive experience, and generating even more energy from it. In 2012, she proved that anything is possible when she won the Ironman in South Africa, clocking a time of 9h 47m10s. Despite being comfortably the oldest competitor in the field, she also took a respectable sixth place in the Ironman event in Hawaii that same year.
Natascha has continued to prove that she's not slowing down by placing second at Ironman Zürich as well as second at Ironman 70.3 Oman in 2019 and 2020.
Her long and illustrious career in triathlon may now be coming to an end, at least in the professional ranks, but don't expect her to step away from the sport she loves completely. Natascha Badmann isn't done with triathlon just yet.