I switched from tennis to triathlon and so should Sir Andy Murray
Rio Olympic gold medallist and former tennis pro Monica Puig has found a new lease of (sporting) life through triathlon…
The Olympic gold medal came out of nowhere. Nobody expected me to win – I didn’t expect myself to win! At the beginning, I just wanted to enjoy being in the Olympic Village and meeting all the athletes. I come from a very small island, you can drive around it in four hours. When there’s negative news, the people of Puerto Rico lean heavily on sport to give them that lift. It’s something I’ll always be grateful for.
Monica Puig is a former professional tennis player who won Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal when she took the women’s singles title in Rio 2016. Having been forced to retire early through injury, the 31-year-old has become a successful commentator and now triathlete, including finishing last year’s Ironman World Championship in Nice.
I turned pro at 16 and was fortunate enough to be injury-free until my whole career came crashing down. I had three shoulder surgeries and one elbow surgery and being a right hand dominant athlete it put me in a difficult position. I was with my mum, who went everywhere with me, when a doctor said I could no longer play competitive tennis because my body couldn’t withstand what I was putting it through.
Tennis was all I knew and I was struggling for a long time. My husband, Nathan, and I started to get into running as it didn’t put stress on my upper body. We completed four of the [then] six major marathons and somewhere along the way I asked how much bikes cost and maybe we should give triathlon a shot! In 2023, we signed up for a first Ironman 70.3 and dove right in. I loved it immediately. The amount of cardio I was doing in tennis put me in a good place to sustain a consistent high heart-rate for a long time, and I’ve qualified for this year’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Marbella.
When I started triathlon I was determined not to reinjure my shoulder. But the best type of rehab for the shoulder has proven to be swimming! I started watching videos online, learning how to spear the water, pull properly and how to breathe – definitely the biggest one.
The most frightening thing with triathlon was the fear of what’s new. Tennis is all I knew and then to say: ‘Ok, now I have to learn a bunch of things and what if I’m not so good?!’ But the beauty is that you see quick improvements with each session.
My schedule is by no means easy. I work in tennis commentary, but being able to travel with my bike and bike trainer and train for these races brings me an immense amount of joy. It’s cool to fit it in with my schedule and do something that makes me happy.
I think [fellow 2016 Olympic singles gold medallist] Andy Murray needs to give triathlon a shot. He’d do great! With his hip and his back he might want to do the swim first and test it out, but I’ve found that getting in the pool has made me a lot stronger. He’s been out on court for 5-6 hours during matches so the time shouldn’t bother him too much. I wouldn’t mind if he sent a message and says he wants to do a relay! They are a lot of fun because you don’t have as much pressure to meet a certain time and you can rely on someone else to do a part of the race that you don’t want to.
Comparing triathlon to tennis, everybody is so level-headed and really chill – it’s not that dog eat dog world. I messaged [GB pro] Kat Matthews on Instagram! She was so down to earth! What I do can’t affect anybody else’s race. Tennis is individual, but I feel like triathlon is even more so.
People have asked whether I’ll try to go pro, but I already lived that life and know it comes with a lot more sacrifice and devotion than I’m willing to give. There are lots of things that I want to do in life and from 10 years old until I retired from tennis it was a lot of saying no to things.
I’ve been able to transfer things I learnt from tennis to triathlon. A lot is patience, discipline and a can-do attitude. If you just show up, it doesn’t matter how you’re feeling, you’re 50% of the way there.
220 Triathlon Team
Journalists, reviewers, coaches and athletes 
