Greg Bennett (triathlete)

Greg Bennett (born 2 January 1972, in Sydney, New South Wales) is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur. He is a retired professional Olympic athlete from Australia. He competed in triathlon since the age of 15[1] as a student at Newington College (1984–1989).[2] Greg became a dual Australian and USA citizen in 2012.

Greg Bennett
2007 Dallas Win in the Lifetime Triathlon US Open Series Final
Personal information
Nickname(s)GB
Born (1972-01-02) 2 January 1972
Sydney, New South Wales[1]
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Weight69 kg (152 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryAustralia
TeamBennett Endurance
Turned pro1990
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Men's triathlon
ITU Triathlon World Cup
2003 Elite
2002 Elite

Bennett has won two International Triathlon Union World Series titles, one Triathlon World Championship, six World Cup titles, as well as being ranked world number one triathlete in 2002 and 2003. Bennett qualified for the Australian Olympic team at Athens, 2004 and Beijing, 2008 Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Summer Olympics. He placed fourth with a total time of 1:51:41.58.[3] Greg has won three Australian National titles in 1998, 1999, 2000 (long course), two Oceania titles in 1998 and 1999.

Bennett started eighty two ITU World Cups, won six and was on the podium twenty three times. Bennett represented Australia at thirteen World Championship Triathlons, three World Duathlon Championships with a silver medal in 2002, two goodwill games and qualified for two Australian Olympic teams.

Bennett won the world's richest ever Triathlon prize purse in 2007 by winning all 5 of the Life Time Fitness Grand Slam city series, which included the LTF Minneapolis Triathlon, Nautica New York Triathlon, Accenture Chicago Triathlon, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles and the Toyota USA Open Dallas Triathlon.

Bennett won the Life Time series for three consecutive years 2006, 2007 and 2008. In the process Greg won eleven of fifteen starts, he was second in one and third in the remaining three. Bennett placed second in the 2009 Life Time Fitness series even after being hit by a car in August 2009 at the completion of a training ride in his home town of Boulder, CO.[4]

Bennett won the 2011 World Championship (no drafting) in Des Moines, Iowa. He was just shy of his 40th Birthday.

Bennett was voted Triathlete of the year in 2003 and 2007 by Triathlete magazine and voted top 15 greatest triathlete of all time by inside Triathlon magazine 2012.

Bennett raced for 28 years as a professional. He competed in over 500 professional Triathlons and had 100+ international wins.

Greg Bennett is married to US Olympic Triathlete Laura Bennett. Laura Bennett raced the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and like Greg finished in 4th place in Beijing.[5] Often heralded throughout their careers as the ‘worlds fittest couple’, there’s little debate that the Bennett’s were worthy contenders of that title during their 16 years as Married Professional Triathletes.

Results

World Triathlon Series Champion 2002 and 2003
Ironman 5150 Triathlon World Champion, 2011
Three time Australian National Champion 1998, 1999, 2000 (long course)
Three time USA Grand Slam Series Champion 2006, 2007, 2008
Triathlete Of The Year 2003 and 2007
Awarded the International Triathlon Union Presidents Cup in 2002

Undefeated Gram Slam Series Champion in 2007

  • Minneapolis
  • New York
  • Chicago
  • Los Angeles
  • Dallas


Over 100 International wins including:

Major USA Titles

  • Four time Los Angeles Triathlon 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008
  • Four time New York Triathlon 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Two Time Chicago 2007, 2014
  • Two time Dallas 2007, 2008


Six time World Cup Champion

  • Monaco 1997
  • Sydney, Australia 1999
  • Cancun, Mexico 2001
  • Hamburg, Germany 2002
  • Gamagori, Japan 2002
  • Ishigaki, Japan 2003


Six Ironman 70.3 from 12 starts

  • Augusta USA 2009
  • Hawaii USA 2012
  • Vineman USA 2012
  • Muncie, Indiana 2012
  • Raleigh, North Carolina 2013
  • Buffalo Springs Texas USA 2013


Represented Australia at Triathlon World Championships 1994 - 2010

  • Wellington, NZ 1994
  • Cancun, Mexico 1995
  • Cleveland, US 1996
  • Perth, Australia 1997
  • Lausanne Switzerland 1998
  • Montreal Canada 1999
  • Perth, AU 2000
  • Cancun Mexico 2002
  • Queenstown NZ 2003
  • Madera, Portugal 2004
  • Gamagori, Japan 2005
  • Lausanne Switzerland 2006
  • Vancouver Canada 2008
  • Budapest Hungary 2010


Represented Australia at Duathlon World Championships – 1999 - 2005

  • North Carolina USA, 1999
  • Georgia USA, 2002
  • Newcastle Australia, 2005


Represented Australia at Olympic Games

  • Athens Greece 2004
  • Reserve
  • Sydney Australia 2000
  • Beijing China 2008


Represented Australia at Goodwill Games

  • New York USA 1997
  • Brisbane Australia 2001

References
  1. "profile at Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series". wcs.triathlon.org. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp 13
  3. "Greg Bennett Biography and Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. Carlson, Timothy (2 August 2009). "Greg Bennett 'lucky' in crash". slowtwitch.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  5. "2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China - Results Triathlon - Women's - Individual". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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