Triathlete Kirsten Sweetland, sidelined by health, calls it a career
Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist, March 2nd
Triathlete Kirsten Sweetland of Victoria, a former teen prodigy who overcame career-threatening injuries to realize her dream last year in Rio of competing in the Olympics, has retired.
The 28-year-old knew it was time because “the decision came a little bit too easy,” she said.
Sweetland found out five months before Rio that she suffers from Lyme disease. It was just the latest in a series of health setbacks that several times nearly derailed a career that began with winning the world junior championship at age 16.
“Such is life. This is the hand I have been dealt,” said Sweetland.