Triathlon: Professional move for Caroline Livesey after world honours

The triathlete, from Summerbridge, was the only Britain to be crowned an All World Champion for Ironman competitions when the list of winners was released last week.

The 36-year-old had a terrific 12 months competing over the longest form of endurance triathlon, striking up a new personal best and 35-39 age group victories in Texas and Austria.

She also picked up a bronze medal at October’s world championships in Kona, United States.

And, while she was “slightly disappointed” by failing to collect a victory in Kona, it has now emerged that her performances over the last year meant she topped the series rankings for all the competitions across the world.

Livesey said: “Last year I had some really good results. At the start of the year, I wanted to see whether I could get out to Kona, so I was really pleased with the results.”

She will now turn her focus to competing in the professional classification in 2015, while still working full-time as an engineer in Harrogate.

And she wants nothing else than to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

“I have stepped my training up for it, but then I always trained very hard anyway,” she said.

“I now have the opportunity, and I want to challenge myself against the best athletes in the world. It’s an opportunity that I want to make the most of.”

“I just want to see how far I can get,” she added.

“It’s been such a whirlwind so far. I don’t know what 2015 is going to hold. My aim is to come top five in one of the Ironman races that I race But that’s going to be a tall order.”

The first race of her professional career will be Ironman South Africa, held in Nelson Mandela Bay in March.

She will tie her visit in to complete charity work with Ironman 4 The Kids, the ever first professional racer to do so.

“It’s important to give something back to the community,” she said. “It has always sat uncomfortable for me going out on a bike worth more than most people’s annual income.

“I am the first professional supporting in this way, and I really hope to raise its awareness.”