Beth Potter still believes she has massive room for improvement despite taking bronze in the British sprint triathlon championships at Blenheim Palace on Sunday in her first major outing in the sport.
The 25-year-old Scot, in her maiden season since switching her focus away from athletics, was 41st coming out of the swim but recovered to stay in touch with the leaders on the cycle stage.
And two weeks after booking her spot at August’s IAAF world championships by winning the UK 10,000m title, the Olympic finalist stormed into the podium spots with a strong run leg to cross the line in 1:08:18, just over two minutes adrift of victor Sophie Coldwell with Sophia Saller landing silver.
“I’m so happy with that,” said Potter. “I’m glad I managed to hold the bike pack this time and run through on the last bit. But I still have work to do.”
Potter is now set to race the Cardiff Super Series later this month before hitting the international circuit in the hope of earning a place in Scotland’s team at next year’s Commonwealth Games.
“I would like to go in triathlon but it depends whether they want to take me on a wild card,” she said. “I'm going to be a whole lot better next March. But to qualify automatically, I need to do a European Cup event or World Cup and finish in the top five.”
GB international Gordon Benson, who trains with Potter in Leeds, won the men’s title in 58:26 with Stirling-based duo George Goodwin and Fergus Roberts finishing sixth and 16th respectively.
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