Doctor goes from triathlon novice to Team GB racer

A doctor who had no formal sporting experience is preparing to represent Great Britain in triathlon in a series of international events.

Dr Gail Dovey-Pearce, 54, from Northumberland, is the head of clinical health psychology at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and only began competing in triathlons about a decade ago.

The mother-of-two signed up for her first race just for fun and had to borrow a wet suit and bike to get to the start line.

But in June Dovey-Pearce represented her country at the Age Group European Sprint Triathlon Championships in Spain and has been selected for the European and World Championships in 2027.

On crossing the finish line at her first ever race she said: "Almost instantly something said to me that I would like to do this again.

"So I just carried on doing it, very patiently, fitting around all the other things that I was doing in my life at that point, including work in the trust and being a mother to two young boys."

About four years ago she decided to find a way to ramp up her training.

"It's a balancing act and I need to take purposeful decisions every day about how to use the available time I have," she said.

"I have to just be flexible and use the time I've got."

Dovey-Pearce said she knows it can be intimidating for women to pick up new sports later in life, but claims "triathlon is a very inclusive community".

"I think it's really important for women to be able to learn new things about themselves and their bodies and put themselves in situations that aren't necessarily designed for them.

"Competitive sport tends to be a male-dominated set-up.

"I hope my story shows that, for women, even later in life it is possible to learn new things."

Dovey-Pearce will be competing again at the Age Group European Sprint Triathlon Championships next June in Austria and then at the world championships in September in Germany.

She said: "I'm a little but overwhelmed but really excited.

"[I'm] just really proud of myself, but also really proud to be telling this story now because I kept it secret for a number of years."

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