Sarah True

Professional athlete, Olympian and, Ironman competitor Sarah True is not afraid to speak about the battles she has faced throughout her lifetime. Sarah proudly represented the United States at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games. At the 2012 London Olympics, she finished an impressive fourth place, missing Bronze by only ten seconds. Four years later, a rare quad muscle cramp forced her to withdraw from the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Following the 2016 Olympics, Sarah fought hard mentally and physically to get to a place where she could enjoy big-stage racing. She struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. With the help and support from her husband (elite runner) Ben True, her family and a therapist, she began to come out of the fog of depression and discover for the first time what true happiness in sport really is.

Sarah made the leap from the Olympic distance triathlon to the Ironman distance, which includes 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and a full 26.2-mile marathon. It is more than four times longer than the Olympic distance. In her first attempt, Sarah did something truly rare: finished second at the 2018 Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt, Germany (to the reigning Ironman world champion, Daniela Ryf). This qualified her for 2018 the Ironman World Championship in Kona where Sarah was the top placing American female coming in fourth. Sarah continues to compete at Ironman events with hopes of qualification for her third consecutive Kona World Championships this coming season.

Sarah was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, and grew up in Cooperstown, New York. She attended Deerfield (Mass.) Academy where she ran cross country, track and swam, earning All-New England Prep honors. Sarah graduated cum laude from Middlebury College, where she double majored in conservation biology and studio art. At Middlebury, she swam for four years as a freestyler and earned All-American honors. Sarah is an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play (www.righttoplayusa.org ). She enjoys spending time in New Hampshire with her husband Ben and their dog, Buddy.

Sarah is vocal advocate for mental health. “My mission is to be more transparent about the other side of sport.” Sarah says, “Our struggles are all universal. I would’ve been so grateful to have that voice when I was a younger athlete.”