How Staffordshire mum-of-two went from couch to Team GB

After giving birth to her children, mum-of-two Emma Broadhurst said she put on a lot of weight, became “really unfit” and was unhappy.

She tried returning to activities she used to love, like swimming and cycling, but would “fall back into old habits again” as she tried to juggle them alongside her work and family life.

However, in May 2023, Mrs Broadhurst turned things around by entering a triathlon and joining a local club, where she got the support and motivation to develop an exercise routine.

And, just two years later, the 35-year-old from Wolstanton, Staffordshire, will be representing Team GB at the European Triathlon Championships in Turkey, on Saturday.

Mrs Broadhurst will be competing against 16 others in the female sprint triathlon for the 35-39 age group, which involves a 750m swim, 20k bike ride and 5k run.

“I am excited but I’m a little bit nervous as well. It’s the highest-level competition I’ve ever competed at,” she told BBC Radio Stoke.

Mrs Broadhurst started off by entering a “middle-distance” 70.3 triathlon, its name coming for the miles athletes cover, and joined Newcastle (Staffs) Triathlon Club.

Over the last two years the training and contests have got “more intense”, leading her to go from two hours to 12 hours of training a week.

“I had a history where I’d start to do something and then fall off the wagon,” she said. “I needed consistency and that was the key.”

Since that first competition she has not looked back, having entered a full ironman competition the following year and, while training for tat event, finished second at a sprint triathlon in Cardiff, in June 2024.

Those achievements have enabled her to qualify to represent Team GB in her age group at the World Triathlon Championships in Australia.

Saturday’s European event in Istanbul serves as a warm-up for those world championships, which take place in October.

Mrs Broadhurst said she was nervous, excited, apprehensive and “getting bursts of adrenaline” when she thinks about Saturday’s contest.

“I’m really excited and really looking forward to going,” she added.

Of her journey over the last two years, Mrs Broadhurst said developing a strict routine was the key to getting fit.

“You have to set your times around your work and family life and try to stick to it,” she said.

“If you do have a mishap, draw a line under it and just go the next day.”

Mrs Broadhurst said she now talks about her endeavours all the time, adding: “If I’m not talking about triathlon, it’s my children and my dogs.”