Multi-Sport
ABERDONIAN Stephanie Forrester has given up her job in an effort to fulfil her ambition of striking gold when triathlon makes its debut as a fully-fledged Olympic medal sport at the Sydney 2000 Games.
The 29-year-old graduate of Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities quit her post as a chemical engineer at the beginning of December in order to join the growing band of professional triathletes plying their trade around the globe.
She explained: ''Most of the people I was competing against last season were professionals. The British Triathlon Association put a fair bit of pressure on me to go full-time and I suppose it was inevitable I would have to make the move if I wanted to achieve my aims in the sport.''
Forrester admitted she would not lose out financially: ''I get a big grant from the lottery - as much as I was earning actually - the only difference is it is not so secure. The grants are reviewed every six months and if I fail to perform then I could lose out. Hopefully that won't happen.''
The Scot, third in last summer's European championship and 13th in the world championships, will prepare for the 1999 season by training in Australia and South Africa before opening her international racing account in a World Cup fixture at Ishigaki, Japan, in April.
Her main target for the summer is the European championships, to be held on Madeira at the beginning of July. ''If I could win that I think it would be good enough to guarantee me a place in the Olympics..''
She also plans to take in the Scottish championships at Monikie Country Park on July 18 and the World championships at Munich on August 1.
She will shortly decide about basing herself in Scotland in the 12 months leading to the Olympics.
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