Having collected a haul of medals since her childhood, including European and world golds, GB triathlete Kate Waugh is starting to make a real mark on the elite scene.
Here's everything you need to know about the rising star's trajectory to date…
Who is Kate Waugh?
Kate Waugh was an early adopter when it came to triathlon. She competed in her first race at the age of eight and by the time she was 15, she already had a European title under her belt. The following decade would provide a multitude of medals for the athlete from Gateshead.
That first European crown was won as part of the British youth women’s relay squad in 2014, and was followed two years later by another, this time in the mixed junior relay.
Twelve months later, Waugh’s third European gold was arguably her most satisfying, gained in the individual junior women’s race in Kitzbühel.
But Europe was not enough for the Geordie, and two world titles would follow in time. Both came during the 2022 season.
The first arrived in Hamburg in July as what was effectively a reserve British mixed relay quartet (the highest-ranked racers were busy with Commonwealth Games preparation) took a surprise gold.
The second was achieved in November as Waugh strode to victory in the U23 women’s race at the WTCS Finals in Abu Dhabi.
A first WTCS top-five finish followed in May 2023, a strong foothold for Waugh as she attempts to secure a place among the top tier of the sport’s elite.
A seventh in the Paris Test Event followed, as did a silver in the Mixed Relay Test Event, before a solid Super League victory in Toulouse and then the big one… a silver at the Grand Final in Pontevedra, Spain, behind world champion Beth Potter.
In October 2023, she would take the overall Super League title, and with it a considerable chunk of the $1.24m prize pot.
The questions over when Waugh would hit the big league are no longer being asked, she's already there.
How old is Kate Waugh?
Kate Waugh was born on 13 February 1999, making her 24 years of age.
Kate Waugh’s career highlights
June 2014: European champ at 15
Having begun her triathlon career at the age of eight, Waugh’s first title arrives in her mid-teens. It’s a significant one too: she becomes a European champion, as part of the victorious British youth women’s relay quartet in the Russian city of Penza.
July 2015: Three is the magic number
Waugh’s most significant individual result to date is achieved at a junior European Cup race in Holten in the Netherlands where she finishes third behind the American winner Taylor Knibb.
Later that month, a return to the European championships yields a silver in the youth women’s relay.
April 2016: Moving on up
Now competing as a junior woman, Waugh takes second place in a European Cup race in Quarteira, Portugal, beaten only by the older, more experienced Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand.
May 2016: Golden girl
More Portugal-based success comes Waugh’s way the following month, when she takes her second European title in Lisbon, this time in the mixed junior relay. It’s more than adequate compensation for her DNF in the women’s individual race the day before.
June 2017: First individual European title
A third European crown arrives the following spring – and this time she doesn’t have to share it with her team-mates. She takes gold in the junior women’s race in Kitzbühel, holding off the challenge of the Dane, Sif Bendix Madsen.
September 2017: Silver for a sterling performance
Still only 18, still only a junior, Waugh adds another major medal to her collection, taking silver in the junior race at the ITU Grand Final in Rotterdam. The holder of several European titles, only her old adversary Taylor Knibb separates her from her first world champs gold.
June 2019: First podium as an elite
Waugh takes her first top-three finish in the elite ranks with bronze in a World Cup race in the newly renamed Kazakhstan capital of Nur-Sultan. She upgrades to an elite silver two months later in a European Cup sprint race in Malmö.
September 2019: Silver lining in Switzerland
Having just missed out on a medal in the U23 World Champs two days earlier at the ITU Grand Final in Lausanne, Waugh steps onto the podium to collect a world champs' silver as part of the GB mixed U23/junior relay squad.
September 2021: First World Series top 10
Waugh starts to gain a foothold in WTCS racing and finishes ninth in Hamburg, the first time she’s breached the sacred top 10. She’s the youngest competitor in the top 20.
July 2022: A maiden world title
With the absolute cream of British Olympic-distance talent otherwise engaged in deep preparation for the Commonwealth Games later in the month, Waugh joins a largely unrecognisable elite mixed relay squad at the world champs in Hamburg.
Hopeful that they might just sneak into the podium places, the British quartet raise numerous eyebrows by taking gold ahead of a more experienced Australian team. Waugh leads them home to collect her first world title.
November 2022: Top of the world… again
Waugh doesn’t have to wait long for a second world crown. At the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi, she scores a comfortable win in the U23 women’s race, easing to victory ahead of Germany’s Annika Koch and Italy’s Bianca Seregni.
May 2023: First WTCS top five
Waugh continues her upward progression by finishing in the top five of a WTCS race for the first time. Her compatriot Sophie Coldwell wins in Yokohama, but Waugh does take the scalp of another Brit, the much-decorated Olympian Georgia Taylor-Brown.
August 2023: Wins mixed team relay silver in Paris
At the Test Event, Kate follows up a seventh-place individual result with silver in the mixed team relay alongside Barclay Izzard, Alex Yee and Beth Potter.
September 2023: Wins her first Super League race
Takes out Toulouse in dominant style, winning by almost a minute over the French pair of Léonie Périault and Emma Lombardi.
September 2023: Wins her first WTCS medal and finishes top-10 in the world
Has her best race to date at the Grand Final in Pontevedra, Spain, running side by side with eventual winner and world champion Beth Potter until the final few hundred metres to take silver. The result sees her finish sixth overall in the series.
October 2023: Wins the Super League Series
Finishes second in the final race in Saudi Arabia to secure the overall series title. It's a huge win, both professionally and financially.
Kate Waugh in quotes
On winning the world title in July 2022 as part of an inexperienced British mixed relay squad: “All of us were genuinely blown away that we managed to win. We were a young team and a top-five would have been a great show for us.”
On following that up with U23 world championship success four months later: “I’d have been disappointed with anything other than gold because it was something I’d written down as my biggest goal of the year. It was an amazing feeling to execute that and become a world champion.”
On racing in Super League competition: “It’s super-fast, super-hard, and if you make a mistake, you really pay for it. I think it really primes and dials you for WTCS racing.”
On winning her first WTCS medal, at the 2023 Grand Final: “I like to think it’s been a long time coming, my confidence’s just been increasing over the season, I’m just speechless. It’s all happened so quickly, the best year of my career."
On her Paris 2024 ambitions: “I’m not going to give up the dream until it’s over.”
On winning the 2023 Super League Series: “Going into today’s last round, my legs felt so heavy coming out of the swim, so I kept having to tell myself how badly I wanted to win this. My form was gone in the last 400m of the final run, but I’m absolutely over the moon.”
What’s next for Kate Waugh?
Waugh threw herself into the 2023 WTCS season in order to deepen her experience and to give her a taste of the podium in that particular series. “I’m no longer an U23,” she says. “I’m now mixing with the big girls.”
She proved it and then some. Having hinted that Paris is a goal of hers, and having finished third-highest Brit in the 2023 standings in sixth, keep a keen eye on Waugh in 2024.
Top image credit: World Triathlon
