BETH POTTER does not like to say she is driven by the desire to prove people wrong. But nevertheless, five years into her triathlon career, she admits she derives more than a little satisfaction from doing just that.
Potter’s bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games this summer was further evidence that she is one of the best triathletes in the world.
However, not everyone has always been convinced that she had the potential to reach anything like this level. Since the Scot switched from athletics in 2017, there have been many doubters – although never herself – and so her performance at Birmingham 2022 was a pleasing rebuke to those who doubted she could ever scale these heights.
“I think a bit of my driving force has come from those people who don’t believe in me. I don’t like saying to prove people wrong but it kind of is,” the 30-year-old says. “I get angry, and that helps me, it spurs me on because I know I am good enough.
“I feel like there’s been this feeling of 'you’re not good enough, you’re not going to do this or that' and so in Birmingham it was nice to prove myself right, prove that I am good enough and that I can compete with the girls at the very top.
“Up until this year, there has definitely been people who should have been backing me but weren’t. I felt like I constantly had to prove that I was good enough to be on funding, good enough to do well. I did well last year but I still didn’t get on funding until November.
“I’ve been working away and I believe in myself, which is the most important thing. I know I can do it. In Birmingham, it all came together and I know the people who have my back.”
Potter’s bronze medal, which came on day one of Birmingham 2022 and was Team Scotland’s first piece of silverware, was won with a world-class performance. Sharing the podium with Olympic gold and silver medallists, Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Georgia Taylor-Brown of England, was no mean feat, particularly when Potter had to beat world No.5 Sophie Coldwell into third spot.
However, Potter is ever the perfectionist and while acknowledging the importance of winning her first Commonwealth Games medal, she still found fault with her race and has already stored that experience away to ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.
“I always felt like a medal was on the cards so it was about whether or not I could do it on the day,” she says. “But I feel like, in a lot of ways, in Birmingham I’d settled for bronze and I should have gone for gold. I got the tactics completely wrong so that’s hard but it was a good race and it’s a championship so you need to learn how to race them. So now, I’ve got that experience under my belt that I can, hopefully, use in the Olympics in 2024.”
Potter has fallen victim to the all too common comedown after a major championship. Countless athletes experience a dip in motivation following the conclusion of the event they have been building towards for months and the Leeds-based Glaswegian is no different.
However, the triathlon season remains in full swing and so with little opportunity to rest until the end of the year, Potter is grateful for a change of scene in the shape of the Triathlon Super League, which begins in London today.
Potter will go in as one of the favourites for the overall title, alongside Taylor-Brown, and she is looking forward to the fast, dynamic form of racing that comes as standard in the Super League.
“I’m struggling with motivation at the moment. I’m still training hard but it can be tough going at times,” she says. “Being on such a high, where do you go after that?
“I’m looking forward to the Super League a lot though, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a different feel and it’s fun racing. I really enjoy it. And I’m going to go for the championship title or certainly plan on giving Georgia [Taylor-Brown] a good run for her money.”
Potter is desperate to continue improving. And with the Scot still a relative novice in the sport compared to her peers, she is optimistic about her scope for improvement as the 2024 Olympics approach.
“The tactics of racing are still a big part for me. Physically, I’m able but in Birmingham, when the attack came on the bike, I was in the wrong part of the line when it happened. I think if I’d been on the right wheel, I could have gone with it but it’s stuff like that I need to be better at,” she says.
“For me, it’s about learning more about what different scenarios could happen. I’ve learnt from what happened at the Commonwealth Games and next time, I’ll be wiser to how it could pan out. So what happened in that race has done me a big favour going forward.”
Super League Triathlon London kicks off this season’s Championship Series. Watch from 12pm today at West India Quay for free, or via BBC iPlayer and Red Button.
