Paula newby fraser biography

Biography.
Paula Newby-Fraser is an Ironman triathlete and duathlete.
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1962; daughter of Brian Newby-Fraser (a businessman) and Elizabeth Newby-Fraser (a psychologist); graduated from college in 1984.

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Paula Newby-Fraser

Zimbabwean triathlete and duathlete

Born	2 June 1962 (1962-06-02) (age 62) Harare, Southern Rhodesia

Paula Newby-Fraser (born 2 June 1962 in Harare) is an Ironmantriathlete and duathlete.

Biography

Newby-Fraser was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and raised in South Africa, where she was a nationally ranked swimmer as a child. She won the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii 8 times: 1986, 1988–1989, 1991–1994, and 1996. Because of her unprecedented winning streak, she is also referred to as "The Queen of Kona".^{[citation needed]}

Over 12 years, she won 21 of 26 Ironman races she entered around the globe, and dozens of shorter races as well.^[1]

Newby-Fraser won 24 Ironman races overall between 1986 and 2002. In the 1990s, she also competed in long distance duathlons like the PowerMan Zofingen in Switzerland and the 1990 World Duathon Championships in Palm Springs, USA. She defeated Liz Downing.^{[citation needed]}

Among numerous other awards, the United States Sports Academy named her as

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Newby-Fraser, Paula

1962-

Zimbabwean triathlete

Paula Newby-Fraser is an eight-time Ironman Triathlon winner, and has won 23 Ironman Championships, more than twice the number won by the next-greatest triathlon champions, Mark Allen, Erin Baker, and Dave Scott. The Los Angeles Times and ABC's "Wide World of Sports" have hailed Newby-Fraser as "The Greatest All-Around Female Athlete in the World."

"Competing Touched a Spark in Me"

Newby-Fraser was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1962. She was the younger of two children. Her father, a wealthy industrialist, moved the family to South Africa when Newby-Fraser was still young; he owned a large paint factory there. Newby-Fraser grew up with wealth and privilege, and as a child took ballet lessons and swimming classes. She showed a talent for swimming early, winning a South African national ranking while she was still in high school.

In college, Newby-Fraser decided to take a break from sports, and as a consequence, gained quite a bit of weight. However, she felt she needed a break from her intense training, and was glad to

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Paula Newby-Fraser

In 1997, Newby-Fraser began running ultramarathons, races of 50 km or more. In the Los Angeles Daily News, she told Ronni Ross, "Running is my passion, my favorite of the three sports. You always have to come back to what you love to do, what motivates you and drives you." She noted that the sport of triathlon had become increasingly commercialized: "There's the money, the politics, it's [now] an Olympic sport." She said that she had recently worked as part of the support crew for her fiancee, Paul Huddle, while he ran the famed Western States 100, a 100-mile endurance race that is run over trails. "At Western States," she said, "People were not there for the recognition or money; they were there for the pure challenge of it." The purity of the event was attractive to Newby-Fraser. She entered the Ridgecrest High Desert 50K in April of 1997, and won, setting a course record of 4 hours and 6 minutes. Although she won, she said she still had a lot to learn about running ultras. "I'm getting a real appreciation and a good deal of humility out there," she told Ro