Lauren has won Paralympic gold and silver medals at Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 respectively. She has been crowned world champion and European champion multiple times and is currently based in Portsmouth.
Triple World Champion (2014, 2015, 2018), seven-time European Champion (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and Paralympic champion Lauren Steadman has been no stranger to the podium since her triathlon debut in 2011.
Lauren is originally from Peterborough but is now a member of the Portsmouth based UK Sport Lottery Funded British Paratriathlon Squad and coached by Robin Brew. Lauren gained a First-Class degree in Psychology at Portsmouth University in 2014. In 2017 she completed an MSc Business and Management, in which she achieved a distinction.
Lauren first got into triathlon after her uncle, who is a triathlete, suggested she should try it. She entered her first event, the British Championships, in Nottingham in 2011 and finished second. At the Paratriathlon World Championships in Auckland (October 2012) Lauren won silver in the Aquathlon (swim-run) event and finished fifth in the Triathlon.
Lauren came to triathlon having already been to two Paralympic Games as a swimmer in 2008 and 2012. She went to her first Paralympics in Beijing aged just 15 and competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Her background in swimming provides a significant strength in triathlon. She was born without a right forearm and competes in the PTS5 classification, which will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Major Results
Lauren competed in her third Paralympic games at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This time competing in the first ever Paratriathlon, Lauren took home a silver medal. Lauren would be a consistent feature on the podium in the following two years with five gold medals in the five major events she entered in 2018. This success guided her to win at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final on the Gold Coast in September.
Lauren continues to be the reigning ETU European champion after seven consecutive victories including her most recent gold medal in Valencia. She extended her gold medal tally with a 1st place finish at the Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup. Lauren also secured three silver medals in 2019 from the GBR National Championships, the Groupe Copley World Paratriathlon Series in Montreal and the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final at Lausanne where she crossed the line after GB teammate Claire Cashmore.
When World Triathlon Para Series racing made its debut on British soil at AJ Bell 2021 World Triathlon Leeds, Lauren took the tape when she finished ahead of compatriot, Claire Cashmore, by 50 seconds after a dominant cycle and strong run. She shared the Leeds podium with Cashmore (2nd) and the USA’s Grace Norman (3rd).
Lauren continued her winning streak with another gold at World Triathlon Para Cup A Coruna before travelling to represent ParalympicsGB at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Racing alongside Claire Cashmore and looking to better her silver medal at Rio 2016, Lauren put in a determined performance which saw her take the title of Paralympic champion after she finished ahead of Grace Norman.
Lauren was born without her lower right arm. She said that as a child she wished she had two arms but has come to love being individual and relishes challenges. She studied at Kelly College, Devon (now called Mount Kelly) - which has a highly successful competitive swimming training programme, but decided to switch from swimming realising that the sport had given her transferable skills and she enjoyed pushing her body over three sports, rather than just one.
