Summer Rappaport: Background, career highlights, quotes

A very consistent performer known for her natural ability in both in the water and in her running shoes, the American Summer Rappaport boasts medals a-plenty across various competitions.

Who is Summer Rappaport?

Summer Rappaport was known as Summer Cook in triathlon circles for many years, up until the point that she got married in 2018.

Either side of her nuptials, she’s held a reputation as a triathlete who knows how to get to the tape first, in World Cup events in particular.

Born and raised in Colorado, Rappaport was both a varsity swimmer and track athlete during her college years, fitting in training and competition around her political science studies.

Upon graduation, she added cycling to the mix and embarked on an adventure as a pro triathlete. She soon became known for her speed in the water, usually entering T1 in first place.

Rappaport quickly established herself in World Cup racing, winning a stack of medals in the series over the years.

Success in the World Triathlon Series was a little harder to come by, although arguably the greatest day of her multisport career came in that series in Edmonton in 2016.

Yet to even register a top-10 appearance in the competition, she shocked everyone, including herself, by taking gold in Canada and claiming numerous big-name scalps into the bargain.

Although Rappaport has yet to repeat that top-of-the-podium experience in this most prestigious of series, she has found herself among the medals on several occasions, most notably in 2019 when she finished fifth overall at the end of the season.

Rappaport also overcame stiff competition to make the USA team at the Tokyo Olympics, although finishing outside the top 10 in Japan would definitely count as a disappointment.

The 32-year-old’s eyes are firmly on the prize of being selected for Paris 2024, and then on staking a claim for both an Olympic medal and its attendant immortality.

How old is Summer Rappaport?

Summer Rappaport was born on 25 July 1991, making her 32 years of age.

Summer Rappaport’s career highlights

April 2014: A first global title

Racing as Summer Cook, Rappaport finishes outside the podium places in the women’s race at the World University Triathlon Championships in Brasilia, but her fifth place, when coupled with Kaitlin Donner’s bronze, significantly contributes to the USA taking the women’s team title.

July 2014: First individual podium

In a Pan American Cup spring race in Magog in Québec, Rappaport steps onto a race podium for the first time, taking bronze behind the Canadian pair Amelie Kretz and Joanna Brown.

May 2015: A maiden elite victory

In Sarasota, Florida, Rappaport takes her first-ever elite win, taking the sprint title at the American Cup and Caribbean Championships.

Her margin of victory is more than a minute, thanks to registering the fastest splits in her two best disciplines – the swim and the bike.

May 2015: First World Cup top five

Having made her World Cup debut at the tail end of the previous season in rather anonymous fashion, Rappaport crashes into the top five with a fourth place in Chengdu in China, having led coming out of the water.

October 2015: Silver in Turkey, gold in Rome

Yet to make an impression on the World Triathlon Series, Rappaport’s star is very much in the ascendancy in the World Cup series, especially after taking silver in Alanya, again setting the fastest swim split.

Eight days later, this form continues at the European Cup and Mediterranean Championships in Catania. Having lost her early lead, Rappaport fights back on the run to take what ends up being a comfortable victory.

April 2016: A golden moment

After her fourth place in Chengdu almost 12 months earlier, Rappaport ratchets up her performance on her return to the Chinese city, taking World Cup gold for the first time.

September 2016: An out-of-the-blue major win

Having never previously troubled the top 10 in a WTS race, Rappaport breaks that duck in the most emphatic way imaginable: by winning in Edmonton after outpacing her compatriot Sarah True.

Rappaport has gate-crashed the top tier by beating the leading lights like Katie Zaferes, Flora Duffy, Vicky Holland, Non Stanford and Emma Jackson.

She spends the rest of the season darkening World Cup podiums in Salinas, Tongyeong and Miyazaki.

July 2017: Strong form continues

Four weeks after a second victory in the European Cup and Mediterranean Championships, Rappaport returns to Edmonton for further WTCS glory, but the reigning champion has to settle for fourth behind Duffy, Taylor Knibb and Zaferes.

Two more World Cup wins are landed before season’s end, though, in Tongyeong and Miyazaki.

May 2018: Six of the best

Now racing under her married name, Rappaport continues her acquaintance with WTS top 10s with a sixth place in Yokohama. It’s a rare scenario, though. Rappaport isn’t first out of the water; that accolade belongs to eventual winner Duffy.

The following month is bittersweet for Rappaport. A DNF at the WTS race in Leeds is followed by another World Cup win, this time in Antwerp.

May 2019: Big in Japan

Yokohama is clearly a happy hunting-ground for Rappaport. This time she improves on her fourth place here a year ago with a silver medal-scooping performance. It’s the start of some excellent WTS form for the Coloradan.

Further podium places in both Hamburg (which she won in a sprint for third with Rachel Klamer, above) and Edmonton (silver) mean she takes fifth place overall in the series, making her finest season to date.

May 2021: Silver in Yokohama

After the COVID-affected 2020 season, another trip to Yokohama means another WCTS silver, with a second victory in the series denied by Rappaport’s compatriot Taylor Knibb.

A further podium place is secured in Hamburg in September following a disappointing 14th place at the Tokyo Olympics.

She also isn’t chosen for the US mixed relay team in Tokyo; they go on to take silver.

September 2022: Podiums in an otherwise lacklustre season

After a promising fifth place at the super-sprint WTCS Montreal in June (and a bronze in the mixed relay champs), Rappaport was unable to get into the top 20 for the rest of the year – 46th in Leeds, 26th in Hamburg, 27th in Cagliari, 25th Bermuda, and 28th at the Abu Dhabi Grand Finals.

She faired better a level down, clocking a sixth (Valencia) and third (Karlovy Vary) in September.

June 2023: Returns to the WTCS podium

Gets her first WTCS podium since Hamburg in September 2021 at the sprint-distance Montreal race in June. Her three other WTCS starts have also delivered top-10 finishes – 4th, Abu Dhabi; 10th, Yokohama; 7th, Cagliari.

She sits second in the Series’ rankings with three races to go.

Summer Rappaport in quotes

On the psychological effects of a training accident in California in 2015: “I really lost focus after the accident. I was having a lot of anxiety and panic attacks on the bike. I was really thinking about leaving the sport.”

On her first, eyebrow-raising WTS victory in Edmonton in 2016: “I actually came into today wanting to finish in the top 10. I was working really hard on the bike to stay with the group, so to be able to come off that and have a strong run was surprising.”

On focusing on Paris 2024 after finishing a disappointing 14th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021: “I know I have the ability to be an Olympian. Now it’s ‘What can I do to take those next steps to winning an Olympic medal?’ And that’s an exciting place to be.”

What’s next for Summer Rappaport?

Having only a registered a single WTCS win among her string of career victories, more success in the series is an immediate goal, as is improving on her highest-ever series finish of fifth.

But, at the age of 32, next year’s Paris Olympics are also dominating her thinking, a last tilt at an Olympic medal before a possible upgrade to long-distancing competition.

Top image credit: Wagner Araujo/World Triathlon