Erin Baker
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  New Zealand |
||
| Women's triathlon | ||
| ITU World Championships | ||
| Gold | 1989 Avignon | Elite women's race |
| ITU Duathlon World Championships | ||
| Gold | 1991 Cathedral City | Elite women's race |
| Ironman World Championship | ||
| Gold | 1987 | Women's individual |
| Gold | 1990 | Women's individual |
| Silver | 1988 | Women's individual |
| Silver | 1991 | Women's individual |
| Silver | 1993 | Women's individual |
Erin Baker MBE (born 23 May 1961) is a New Zealand triathlete.
Baker is a well known, female athlete who for years dominated the Olympic distance and Ironman triathlon circuit. She was known for her outstanding performances in triathlon disciplines and won many World titles, World Championships and Ironman titles.
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[edit] Early life
Baker was born in 1961 in Kaiapoi, New Zealand. Upon the suggestion by her mother Mary, Erin began running competitively at age 15 and showed ability right from the start. "I remember the first day Erin competed in a cross-country race. I was waiting for her to come in thinking God, she won't be very pleased because she hasn’t done very well. In fact, I missed her crossing the finish line a quarter of an hour earlier, in first place."[1] This competitiveness and desire has been evident in Erin from an early age and her hunger, victory and ambition was a characteristic of her later success.
Baker is one of eight children. Her siblings include Phillipa Baker (New Zealand rower and 1991 Halberg award winner) and Kathy and Maureen who were both national titlists in swimming and aerobics, proving Erin comes from a very talented sporting family.[2]
[edit] Competitive career
Baker was originally coached by John Hellemans but controlled and developed her successful career by self-training, “I was self-trained. I just trained as much as my body would handle, and that was a shit load. I trained and trained, and I trained more if I had time. I never got injured so I would often do more in case somebody else was training while I was resting”.[3] This quote only highlights the sheer determination of the woman and the competitive desire to win at all costs, even if the costs were physical.
In 1981 she was convicted of throwing explosive devices while protesting during the South African Rugby team tour of New Zealand. This act prevented her from entering the United States for several years, restricting her from competing in any American competitions.[4] Baker was also known for her protests at the Hawaii Ironman competitions when she rebelled against the notion of the winner of the men’s division receiving a car and the women’s division winner receiving nothing for her efforts. She voiced her opinions on numerous occasions and as a result was well known as a controversial athlete [5]
With a remarkable career under her belt, she finished her triathlon stint in 1994 with an extraordinary record of 104 wins from 121 triathlons entered. (Romanos, 2006).
Erin Baker was named “Triathlete of the decade” by American magazine Triathlete. The magazine commented on Erin’s success by saying “We’ve stopped trying to figure Erin out, we just accept her as the best female triathlete that ever lived” (Palenski & Romanos, 2000).
[edit] Results
- 1984 entered and won her first ever triathlon in Sydney
- 1985 won the world middle distance championship in Nice, France
- 1986 New Zealand Ironman female winner (8.26.3)
- 1986 Won the world middle distance championship in Nice, France
- 1987 New Zealand Iron Man female winner (8.17.3)
- 1987 Winner of female division at Ford Ironman championships in Hawaii (shattered previous course record)
- 1987 Winner of the world short course title
- 1988 Won the world middle distance championship in Nice, France
- 1988 Winner of the world short course title
- 1988 Won World Championships (Olympic distance) in Canada
- 1988 Winner of the world short course title
- 1989 Named New Zealand Sportsperson of the year at Halberg awards
- 1990 Won the Women's demonstration Triathlon at the 1990 Commonwealth Games; competed in Women's 10,000 m in National championships
- 1990 Winner of female division at Ford Ironman championships in Hawaii
- 1990 New Zealand Ironman female winner (9.38.3)
- 1991 Won the World Duathlon title
- 1994 New Zealand Ironman female winner (9.54.1)
- 1994 Retired as a professional athlete
- 1995 Inducted in the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame
- Winner of 9 Ironman titles
[edit] Post triathlon career
Baker now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband and fellow triathlete Scott Molina. Together she and Scott (nicknamed Skid) have two children; Miguel and Tandia.
Baker has also served as a councillor on the Christchurch City Council, and has served on the Canterbury District Health Board and on the boards of Jade Stadium Ltd and Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing Ltd.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Palenski & Romanos, (2000), pg 83
- ^ Romanos (2006)
- ^ "Interview by Dan Empfield". Slow Twitch. 1999-10-01. http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/interview/erinbaker.html. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
- ^ Palenski & Romanos, (2000)
- ^ "SMACKDOWN!: Who Are the Top Three Female Triathletes of All Time?". Inside Triathlon. 2008-02-27. http://www.insidetriathlon.com/article/70004/smackdown-who-are–the-top-three-female-triathletes. Retrieved 2008-04-08.[dead link]
- ^ Canterbury District Health Board report 2002 (PDF)
[edit] Sources
- Heidenstrom, Peter (1992) Athletes of the Century: 100 years of New Zealand track and field (GP Publications, Wellington) ISBN 1869560442
- Romanos, J. (2006) New Zealand’s top 100 sports history-makers Wellington: Trio Books Limited.
- Palenski, R. & Romanos, J. (2000) Champions: New Zealand sports greats of the 20th century Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers ISBN 1869588134
- SMACKDOWN!: Who Are the Top Three Female Triathletes of All Time? - Inside Triathlon
- (Retrieved on March 16th 2008)
- (Retrieved March 16th 2008)
[edit] External links
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