HANNAH YOUNG

OFF ROAD TRIATHLETE

The road to success was long and winding for Hannah. Showing that not all sport dreams start as a child or teenager. For Hannah variety was the spice of life.

Starting in netball, she took up sky diving and even fell in love with and became a scuba diving instructor. It wasn’t until the end of 2021 at the age of 27 the Hannah bought a mountain bike and competed in her first ever Cross Triathlon & immediately became addicted to the sport. Success followed, but so did the anguish of falling just short of her ultimate dream - a first place finish.

But Hannah isn’t finished, she’s on the bike, in the water and running her way back to the top.

Watch Hannah’s story

Hannah Young

Off road Triathlete - Born in 1994 from Caloundra, QLD

This year, 2025, I wanted so badly to retain my title as the Australian Cross Triathlon Champion. The race was in February and I had a good summer of preparation and it was my first race with a new coach. In the lead up to the race I had placed so much internal pressure on myself to perform which unfortunately became the catalyst for being far too hard on myself when I feel I didn’t meet my own expectations. Unfortunately I was not the best athlete on the day and I was heartbroken with my performance and ‘losing’ that title for 2025.

I realised I needed to speak with a professional to help me get through some mental hurdles as I was about to take on a huge year of chasing the XTERRA World Cup.

Once of the best pieces of advice I have received from reaching for help is to take time outside of the racing and the training to enjoy my surroundings- especially when you are travelling to new countries or abroad for racing. It’s important to make memories that are external to any race outcomes. This way, if you have a race where you consider it unsuccessful then that new place/venue isn’t tied to that result and you have positive memories and experiences to takeaway. It helped shine a light that being a professional athlete is so much more than just results- it’s about embracing the whole entire experience.

HANNAH’S FAVOURITE MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

“It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light” – Under Armour ‘Rule Yourself’ campaign with Michael Phelps.
To me it signifies that all of the sacrifices, the early mornings, the discipline, the sessions you feel ‘unmotivated’ for or are nervous about – the sessions nobody else see’s- is what eventually lead to showing up as the best version of yourself when it’s time to shine. It’s a quote I would read when I woke up every morning and it would help get me out of the door on those mornings I wanted to stay in bed.