Siri Lindley Retires November 2002, Tri Digest Bulletin — "To everyone who has made my triathlon experience the greatest and most gratifying of my life..... with very special thanks to my family, to my training partners and my amazing coach. To every person i have interracted with..... To every race director...to every athlete i have competed against..... And to every sponsor who supported me and believed in me.... To all these people who helped to make the experience so much more than just being about training and racing... making it more about living life to the fullest. Thanks to all those, and you know who you are, who stood by me from start to finish and have stood by me in this final decision.... I never could have done it without you ..." This quote is from Siri Lindley, who has now officially announced her retirement from the sport of triathlon. Siri first contemplated retirment after the 2001 season, which was a stellar season for her, involving five consecutive World Cup wins, the World Championship win in triathlon and a World Championship win in aquathlon. She finishing the season ranked No. 1 in the world, winning the 2001 World Cup series title and the USAT and the Triathlete Magazine's 2001 short-course Triathlete of the Year honors. She also was nominated for The Women's Sports foundation female Athlete of the Year award. All this was a dream come true for Siri and exceeded all her highest expectations. She decided not to retire at the end of the 2001 season because, "I wanted to win the World Cup series one more season to prove that I was a consistent athlete and deserved to be in the No. 1 spot." This became her main motivation for the 2002 season, and, indeed, this, too, she has achieved. She finished the 2002 season with four World Cup wins, a second and a third in two other World Cup races, and plus two wins in International Points races. She won the World Cup Series, and finished the 2002 season again the No. 1-ranked triathlete in the world. Almost more importantly, she has achieved, through these results, the belief in herself she has sought for so long. "Through winning for the second straight year the same World Cups I won the year before ... and the Lausanne World Cup for the third consecutive season ... my consistency was confirmed and I achieved complete fulfillment," she says. Siri feels she is now able to finish this amazing chapter of her life and start a new one ... but not without triathlon. She is now determined to give back to the sport all that it gave to her throught her journey and provide others with the inspiration, coaching, and motivation to achieve the same fulfillment and passion for the sport that she has been fortunate enough to experience. Her goal is to stay involved through broadcasting, coaching and motivational speaking. Siri has given her heart and soul to this sport which has been her life for the last nine years. In return, the sport has provided her with the ultimate arena in which to discover who Siri Lindley really is and what she is made of. This, has been the most valuable gift for her, along with the amazing friendships she has made and lessons about life that she has learned. She says: "This has been the most fulfilling and exciting chapter of my life ... the friendships formed, the memories made and who I am today will last forever. Thanks to all of you for making my time in this sport the most memorable and cherished time of my life!" Back to Articles Page

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