What does success look like?
Is it the medals, the trophies, the acclaim? Success is so easy to see from an external perspective after all. Watching from behind a screen or simply looking at the results, success jumps out and demands attention.
Or is it something different? Maybe it is something quieter, something more introspective, something that only the individual can ever truly know. It can be in perseverance, it can be in bouncing back, it can be in personal growth.
Georgia Taylor-Brown embodies both aspects of success. At this point in time the top of a podium has basically become a second home, somewhere she holidays several times a year.
At the same time, though, there is another side to Taylor-Brown’s story. Much in the same way Flora Duffy’s road to the top was not plain sailing, Taylor-Brown’s journey was similarly beset by misfortune and an absence from the sport.
Prodigy
It is no exaggeration to say Taylor-Brown was one of the most exciting young triathletes in the world as a Junior, a tyro that took on pretty much all before her.
Back to back wins at the 2012 and 2013 European Junior Championships marked her out as something special. At the former, she took a narrow 6 second win over Leonie Periault; at the latter, she earned a more comprehensive 23 second win over Laura Lindemann.
A silver at the World Junior Championships in 2013 followed as Tamara Gorman stunned both Taylor-Brown and Lindemann.
Moreover Taylor-Brown was a cross country star.
In 2014, she won the English U20 Cross Country Championships by 48 seconds and beat a stacked field at the BUCS Cross Country Championships (British Universities, Colleges and Schools) that included future Rio Olympian Beth Potter. As if that was not enough, she finished 4th in the 2013 European Junior Cross Country Championships despite having to stop mid-race to put a shoe back on.
After a successful Junior career that also included a World Junior Duathlon title and two European Junior Cup silver medals, the future seemed bright for Taylor-Brown.
And then she vanished.
Injury
After the World Junior Championships in London, 2013, Taylor-Brown would not race internationally for almost three years.
A stress fracture in her navicular bone at the top of her left foot was discovered in May 2014. Nor was this any simple injury. It proved more difficult to get rid of than Boris Johnson.
A stubborn foe, it grew in size which is unusual for most stress fractures. As a result, a couple of operations were called for and metal screws were inserted into the bone. Amidst the surgeries and the screws, Taylor-Brown was forced to spend weeks at a time on crutches and in a medical boot.
Nor did the recovery go as smoothly as hoped.
As an example of the setbacks, after one operation she suffered a stress response in her foot. That reaction was prompted by a simple case of light walking, however it meant that Taylor-Brown would have to return to crutches and the boot.
As the months ebbed away, 2014 became 2015 and another season of triathlon began to pass her by.
Rebound
Taylor-Brown’s time away from elite sport enabled her to focus on her degree in sport and exercise science at the University of Leeds. In 2015, she graduated having been able to enjoy life away from elite sport as a real student for a time.
There may be a degree to which the space was a benefit. Notwithstanding the frustration of injury, sometimes it can be refreshing to step off the treadmill of elite sport and take a breath.
Fortunately for the sport, Taylor-Brown returned to said treadmill in good time.
In her races back in 2016, she hardly missed a beat.
At her World Cup debut in Cagliari, she finished 12th. Having last raced in 2013, it was not only impressive given the jump up in level but also given how long it had been since her last international race.
A 5th at a European Cup in Rotterdam followed before she finished her season with a 4th place at the World U23 Championships in Cozumel. Taylor-Brown only raced three times internationally in 2016; with so few races and no major medals, to many she may have slipped under the radar. On the other hand, her limited results gave some indication of what was to come.
In 2017, with her injury woes behind her, Taylor-Brown kicked things into a new gear.
She launched her season with a silver at the European Cup in Quarteira. At her next race, she produced a monster performance at the Madrid World Cup (only her second ever World Cup race) and won the race by a whopping 51 seconds.
A WTCS debut in Hamburg and then a European U23 title filled her summer. She would then end her season with another 4th place at the World U23 Championships.
Again, her racing was fairly sparse in 2017 as British Triathlon managed her workload.
By now, though, the years of patience through injury had paid off. Now the glory waited around the corner.
Excellence
2018 would be the first season Taylor-Brown raced the WTCS fully. A debut WTCS medal came as she won a bronze medal in Edmonton. Another bronze followed soon after in Montreal.
The next year, she achieved her first WTCS win in Leeds in front of a rapturous home audience.
Fast forward almost four years and she has 13 medals in 23 WTCS races which included a spectacular run of 8 consecutive WTCS medals. With an Olympic silver medal individually and a single day world title from 2020, Taylor-Brown might just be the foremost female triathlete of her generation.
In another world, the injury problems that kept her from the sport for over two years could have derailed her career before it ever truly began.
If patience is vital for all young athletes, the level Taylor-Brown showed during her injured years took that to an extreme degree.
More importantly, she serves as a reminder that life is never straightforward. In even Taylor-Brown’s case, in what seemed an inevitable, inexorable rise to the top, there were times of doubt and difficulty.
Nowadays, she is one of the leading women in the sport and has fulfilled every drop of promise she displayed as a Junior. Georgia Taylor-Brown has been destined for the top for some time. It would be unwise, though, to think her rise has been as easy as she has made it look.
What is success then? Is it the medals, the rebound, the fulfillment of promise? Only Georgia Taylor-Brown will know for sure what counts as success for her, just as everyone’s personal definition will vary.
Having battled her way to the top, there will be no stopping her anytime soon.
