ABOUT OLLY

OLIVER FREEMAN
D.O.B. 11/01/1986
TRIATHLETE

Sport is in my blood, with relatives including an England International footballer and a Junior International Swimmer (being my dad!). From a young age I enjoyed lots of sports, including football, tennis, running and swimming. When I was 7, a local triathlon club held a Kids' Triathlon at our school, and my sister, Henny, entered and came 2nd, without really knowing what was going on (illustrated by the putting on of socks in T1!). The next year, we both did a Kids' Triathlon in Dover, and both won, and that was where it really all started.

Over the next few years we religiously traipsed around the country competing in any Kid's triathlon we could find, and found continued success. Meanwhile, under the guidance of my pro-active school Dulwich Prep School (Cranbrook, Kent) and coach Peter Brenchley, I started to move up the county and national ranks as a cross-country runner. By the time I was 13, and about to leave Dulwich, I had won the National Tri-Star Triathlon series a few times, and moved swimming club to RTW Monson (Tunbridge Wells, Kent), and was starting to push into the top 10 in the country as a cross-country runner.

My secondary school was 'Tonbridge School', where Maths teacher/Welsh international runner Huw Evans helped me take my running to a new level. In my first year I got into the English Schools' Junior Cross Country Team, and won my final Tri-Star National Triathlon Title. The next year I moved up to the youth age-group as a triathlete, and won the nationals that year. I missed out a second year as a youth in 2002, and instead moved straight into the Junior age-group. My final 3 years at Tonbridge were spent in this age-group, and I moved from 5th to 3rd to 1st in the European Champs through this time. I also picked up a World Duathlon title, and a National Youth Cross-Country title, and competed in my first senior race, coming 5th at the 2004 National Elite Champs. Meanwhile, I managed 11 A*s at GCSE and 4 As at A-Level, along with a place at Cambridge University.

After leaving school, I decided to take a gap year, which co-incided with my 4th and final year as a Junior. I moved down to Eastbourne to enable me to do all of my training with my coach Glenn Cook and his club Bodyworks XTC. The season was mixed with highs and lows, with National and European Triathlon titles and a World Junior Duathlon Title, but I missed out on the main season goal, the World Junior Triathlon title.

In 2006, I moved into a flat and decided to postpone a degree to concentrate on being a full-time athlete. I had a great season, which set me up for an awesome start to 2007, where I got 2 top 5s in my first two World Cups of the season. However, a broken foot at the European Champs (and then a subsequent foot injury) meant I was out of action for 6 months, and missed Worlds and Olympic Games qualifier #1 and #2. In 2008, I was disappointed to only make reserve for the GBR Olympic Team, but through a string of consistent results through the World Cup season, I ended up ranked 6th in the World. In 2009, I was forced to miss most of the season through illness and personal circumstances, which has left me with a very exciting 3 years until the London 2012 Olympics...

2010 SEASON

  • 16th - World Championship Series, Seoul (08/05)
  • 7th - French Grand Prix round 1, Dunkerque (24/05)
  • 13th - World Championship Series, Madrid (06/06)
  • 13th - French Grand Prix round 2, Beauvais (13/06)
  • 9th - European Championships, Athlone (04/07)
  • 38th - World Championship Series, London (25/07)

2009 SEASON

  • 11th - California 70.3 Ironman (04/04)
  • 12th - World Championship Series, Tongyeong (02/05)
  • 17th - World Championship Series, Madrid (31/05)
    • ---
  • 13th - Southern Counties Cross-Country Champs (31/01)
  • 1st - Sussex Country Cross-Country Champs (03/01)

2008 SEASON

  • 6th - Mooloolaba World Cup (30/03)
  • 14th - New Plymouth World Cup (06/04)
  • 7th - Pontevedra Premium European Cup (19/04)
  • DNF - Madrid World Cup (25/05)
  • 15th - World Triathlon Championships - Vancouver (08/06)
  • 11th - Des Moines World Cup (22/06)
  • 3rd - Hamburg World Cup (06/07)
  • 5th - Tiszaujvaros World Cup (13/07)
  • 4th - British National Championships (27/07)
  • 7th - Los Angeles Triathlon (07/09)
  • 2nd - Malibu Triathlon (13/09)
  • 6th - Lorient World Cup (27/09)

    • ---
  • 1st - Sussex Country Cross-Country Champs (05/01)

2007 SEASON

  • 5th - Lisbon World Cup (06/05)
  • 4th - Richards Bay World Cup (13/05)
  • 4th - Corus Series Race #1 - Strathclyde (27/05)
  • 14th - European Triathlon Championships - Copenhagen (01/07)
  • 7th - Eilat Word Cup (01/12)

    • ---
  • 1st - Sussex Country Cross-Country Champs (06/01)
  • 10th - English National Cross-Country Champs (10/03)

2006 SEASON

  • 3rd - Estoril European Cup (23/04)
  • 1st - Blenheim Triathlon (21/05)
  • 18th - Madrid World Cup (04/06)
  • 6th - Royal Windsor Triathlon (11/06)
  • 2nd - European Under 23 Triathlon Championships (08/07)
  • 18th - Salford World Cup (30/07)
  • 3rd - London Triathlon (06/08)
  • 8th - World Under 23 Triathlon Championships (03/09)
  • 2nd - Macau Asian Cup (17/09)
  • 25th - Beijing World Cup (24/09)

JUNIOR (U20) ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Double European Junior Triathlon Champion (2004, 2005)
  • Double World Junior Duathlon Champion (2004, 2005)
  • 2nd at World Junior Triathlon Championships (2004)
  • Double National Junior Triathlon Champion (2003, 2005)
  • 2nd at Southern Counties Cross-Country Championships (2006)

YOUTH (U17) ACHIEVEMENTS

  • National Youth Triathlon Champion (2001)
  • National Youth Cross-Country Champion (2003)
  • Double European Youth Relay Champion Team Member (2001 with Alex Duce & Gareth Evans, 2003 with Alex Duce & Adam Hickey)

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS

  • National Triathlon Champion at all Tri-Star age-groups (1994-2000)
  • England Schools' Cross-Country Team as a Junior & Intermediate (2000, 2002)