Tamara Jewett: Background, career highlights, quotes

Initially an Olympic contender on the track, Tamara Jewett switched codes and has been setting the Ironman 70.3 world alight ever since, thanks to a series of record-busting performances on the run.

Here’s her story so far…

Who is Tamara Jewett?

Very few female triathletes can out-run Tamara Jewett. Anne Haug has done it once. So too has Lucy Charles-Barclay. Ashleigh Gentle has managed it twice. But that’s about it, such is the Canadian’s pedigree on two legs.

Her rivals now know that they have to be a certain distance ahead of Jewett coming out of T2 in order to stand a chance of not being caught by the woman from Toronto.

In this respect, she’s very reminiscent of another dominant runner, the all-conquering Gwen Jorgensen.

Like Jorgensen, Jewett was a star on the track when in college. She had genuine aspirations to make it to the Olympics in order to uphold a family tradition (her cousin Gordon represented Canada at Nordic skiing at the 2012 Winter Games), but an 18-month lay-off due to a bad tear in her plantar fascia extinguished those Olympian dreams. Instead she turned to triathlon.

Jewett turned professional in 2019 after a year of success in age-group races and very quickly established herself on the Ironman 70.3 scene.

Not only was she a frequent occupant of podiums across North America, but her reputation as the fastest triathlete on two legs rapidly spread. Indeed, there’s never been a faster female runner in Ironman 70.3 history.

In September 2021, she became the first woman to break 74 minutes on the run; 18 months later – by which time she’d put her legal career on hold to prioritise her racing – Jewett went sub-73 minutes.

In the latter of those two races, the Canadian put in her greatest performance to date, winning handsomely at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside and demolishing an extremely high-calibre field.

It was the race in which she truly announced herself and served warning to all around her. Three weeks shy of her 33rd birthday, there was a new kid in town.

How old is Tamara Jewett?

Tamara Jewett was born on 22 April 1990, making her 33 years of age.

Tamara Jewett’s career highlights

September 2019: Her Ironman 70.3 debut

After a first season in triathlon as an age-grouper across various distances, Jewett’s maiden pro season finds her making her Ironman 70.3 debut in Augusta. As a sign of what’s to come, the Canadian is just 13 seconds away from a medal.

The race is won by future Ironman world champ Chelsea Sodaro, with whom Jewett will duel many times to come.

November 2019: A first 70.3 medal

In her second Ironman 70.3 start, Jewett goes one better than on her debut and earns a bronze in Buenos Aires. The race is again won by Sodaro, who finishes 10 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Jewett needs to play catch-up.

September 2020: Jewett’s coronation as national champion

After a pandemic-enforced break in the racing schedule, Jewett drops down to Olympic distance for the Canadian Pro Championships in her native Ontario.

In what is becoming something of her trademark, she overturns a four-minute deficit coming out of T2 to become national champion in just her second year as a pro.

August 2021: The giants are tumbling

After coming fifth at Ironman 70.3 Boulder among a strong field (a silver lining is beating Sodaro for the first time), Jewett returns to the podium at Ironman 70.3 Timberman where her scalps include three-time Ironman world champ Mirinda Carfrae, whom she beats by nearly 10 minutes.

September 2021: First appearance at Ironman 70.3 worlds

Jewett travels to Utah to make her world champs bow, but a slow swim leaves even this speedster with too much to do to get within a sniff of the podium.

Her run is only bettered by winner Charles-Barclay, but it still only takes Jewett to 13th place.

A better day comes later in the month with silver at Ironman 70.3 Augusta, where the Torontonian becomes the first woman to break 75 minutes for the run split of an Ironman 70.3. Another 70.3 silver arrives in December at Indian Wells.

June 2022: The medals keep flowing

Jewett adds another silver to her tally at Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in Maryland; a fortnight later, gold is the colour at Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant in Quebec.

April 2023: Jewett’s greatest day as a triathlete

Jewett’s decision to solely concentrate on her sporting career bears immediate fruit at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in California. She takes the lead halfway through the marathon, having reigned in current Ironman world champ Sodaro.

On breaking the tape, Jewett becomes the first woman to dip under the 73-minute mark for a run in an Ironman 70.3 race.

In her wake, she leaves a veritable who’s-who of long-course racing, including Kat Matthews, Holly Lawrence and Paula Findlay.

Tamara Jewett in quotes

On putting her legal career on hold at the end of the 2022 season to make triathlon her full-time vocation: “’Lawyer Tamara’ is an important part of me and one I expect to come back to. But the truth is that my heart is in this sport right now and I am hungry to put everything in I can.”

On whether rivals and spectators were shocked by her domination of the field at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside earlier this year: “A few were very surprised, saying ‘Who is this Tamara Jewett?!’ If they didn’t know before, everybody in the sport knows now.”

On her resolute approach to racing: “I am always aiming for the podium.”

What’s next for Tamara Jewett?

Although currently just outside the top 10 of the women’s PTO rankings, expect Jewett to hurtle up the order at the same speed she shows on the road.

After two underwhelming performances at the Ironman 70.3 worlds (her highest finish is ninth), that particular crown has to be her overwhelming target.

And once that was achieved, it’s not inconceivable that this most motivated of athletes would then set her ambitious sights on the full Ironman World Champs.

Top image credit: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images for Ironman