Emma’s Story
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Athlete Member, World Triathlon Hall of Fame inductee and Multiple World Champion, Emma Carney raced her first triathlon in 1993, competed in her first International Triathlon at the World Championships in 1994 and won that race by the largest margin in the history of the sport.
During 1995, 1996 and 1997 Emma won all but three races and took Triathlons to a new level of speed, power and athleticism.
Emma became a two time World Champion, three time World Number one & nine time Australian Triathlon Champion.
Prior to being a triathlete, Emma had a background in athletics and was one of Australia’s leading young distance Athletes.
As a talented junior distance runner, Emma won national school titles on the track (1500m and 3000m). As a senior athlete, Emma represented Australia in two World Cross Country Championships and two Australian Road Relay Teams and in 1993 ran the 7th fastest time by an Australian over 3km.
Emma throughout her career was renowned to posses a lethal bike and run combination which enabled her to destroy her competition. Much of this athletic prowess was thought to be due to her abnormally low resting heart rate (recorded to be below 30 at the AIS during altitude testing and training effects studies) combined with her extremely high lactate tolerance threshold. It was thought perhaps Emma was able to race at her maximum heart rate, with little to no lactate build up allowing her to maintain speed, whilst opponents struggled in the back end of races.
Emma was forced to retire, in 2004, when she was diagnosed with a serious heart condition. Emma had raced with a heart condition for a number of years & still remained competitive internationally. Emma was initially told by doctors she ‘would never exercise again’, as she was to be the recipient of an ICD (defibrillator).
Since this time Emma has worked with her Cardiologist and has returned to a level of fitness that allows her to continue an active lifestyle.
Emma is now an integral part of the World Triathlon Development and Education team ensuring her beloved sport of Triathlon is developed worldwide. She is a high performance triathlon coach, level 3 Athletics Australia Coach and AUS Cycling Performance Coach. Many triathletes, runners and individuals wanting to simply improve their fitness benefit from Emma’s experience through her online and personal coaching programs emmacarney.com . Emma also works with various clubs in Melbourne - both Athletics and Triathlon - helping to design and implement their coaching programs.
Emma recently completed her Autobiography - Hard Wired, Life Death and Triathlon - which has been described as one of the most honest accounts of the ruthless side of High Performance Sport.
Emma Carney – Sporting Career:
Triathlon:
World Triathlon Champion 1994 (Wellington NZ)
World Triathlon Champion 1997 (Perth Australia)
World Number 1 Triathlete 1995, 1996, 1997
Triathlon World Cup Champion 1995, 1996, 1997
9 Time Australian Triathlon Champion
Australian Triathlon Champion 1995, 1997, 1998
Australian Sprint Distance Triathlon Champion 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000
Australian Long Distance Triathlon Champion 2000, 2001
Australian Triathlete of the Year 1995, 2000
Fastest Ever Time for an Olympic Distance non-drafting Triathlon (1hour 54min 22sec)
Noosa Triathlon Record set in 1997 (still stands)
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Athlete Member
World Triathlon Hall of Fame Athlete
Triathlon Australia Hall of Fame
Triathlon Victoria Legend of Multisport
Duathlon:
Australian Duathlon Champion 1994, 1997, 2001
Athletics:
Athletics Australia Representative Bib #700
Represented Australia at two World Cross Country Championships & two Road Relay Teams
Junior National School Track Champion 1500m & 3000m
Coaching Accreditation:
World Triathlon Level 2 Performance Coach
AUS Cycling Performance Coach
Athletics Australia Level 3 Coach
World Triathlon Coach Development & Education Team Member
Level 1 S&C