India Lee: Background, career highlights, quotes
British triathlete India Lee has gone from strength to strength since switching up to middle-distance racing in 2018. Here's her story so far…
Already a double European champion, India Lee’s career entered another dimension when the Brit stepped up to middle-distance racing. The medals continued to flow…
Who is India Lee?
Over the last 10 years of so, India Lee has proved herself to be one of the more versatile British women in multisport, eminently competitive whatever the distance or format.
Originally from Winchester but now based in Bath, she started out in duathlon, being crowned an age-group champion at the 2013 European championships.
Her first triathlon podium arrived a couple of years later, followed the following season by a maiden World Cup win in Sardinia.
That month – May 2016 – was a particularly notable one. After Cagliari, Lee travelled to Lisbon for the European Champs, returning with two golds after the most productive weekend of her career, which saw her take both individual and mixed relay titles.
Despite this success, Lee never left much of a visible mark in the World Triathlon Series and changed tack accordingly. And her first Ironman 70.3 race brought immediate success in foul conditions in Weymouth.
Further 70.3 successes (in Finland and Weymouth again), coupled with a handful of medals in the Challenge series, proved that focusing on middle-distance racing had revitalised her career.
It remains to be seen whether her imminent conversion to Ironman will provide yet another successful chapter in her notable career.
How old is India Lee?
India Lee was born on 31 May 1988, making her 36 years of age.
India Lee’s career highlights
April 2013: A maiden European crown
At the European duathlon championships in the Netherlands, Lee takes an age-group victory, comfortably winning after posting the fastest times on both runs.
May 2015: Lee claims her first triathlon podium
In a European Cup race in Antalya in Turkey, Lee finds herself among the medals when she takes bronze, beating reigning British champion Emma Pallant-Browne into the bargain.
March 2016: Another bronze, this time Stateside
At the CAMTRI American Sprint Championships in Sarasota, Florida, Lee comes home third, held from silver by just-turned-18 future 70.3 world champion Taylor Knibb.
May 2016: Lee tastes Sardinian gold
On the island of Sardinia, Lee breaks the tape in the World Cup race in the capital Cagliari – her first international triathlon triumph.
May 2016: Double dose of golden glory
At the European Championships in Lisbon, Lee is the star of the show. Thanks to the day’s fastest bike leg, she takes gold before, 24 hours later, repeating the trick as part of GB’s dominant mixed relay champions.
September 2018: Half-Iron victory at first attempt
Still not making a splash on the World Triathlon Series circuit (her highest-place finish being 17th in Leeds in 2017), Lee’s last race of 2018 is her middle-distance debut.
And it’s a significant debut, one that will divert her career in a different direction, taking the win in cold and wet conditions at Ironman 70.3 Weymouth by almost three clear minutes.
June 2019: More 70.3 gold
After taking bronze at Ironman 70.3 Pays d’Aix (making it a GB 1-2-3 alongside Emma Pallant-Browne and Nikki Bartlett), Lee returns to the top step of the podium at Ironman 70.3 Finland, leading home yet more promising middle-distance Brits in the shape of Kat Matthews and Lucy Buckingham.
September 2019: Lee retains her Weymouth title
A fortnight after just missing a top-10 finish at the Ironman 70.3 world champs in Nice, Lee swaps the south of France for the south coast of England where she defends her crown at Weymouth, taking more than nine minutes out of her winning time of 12 months earlier.
May 2021: Up for the Challenge
Lee opens her season with a silver at Challenge Riccione on Italy’s shimmering Adriatic Coast. Further medals this season come courtesy of third-place Ironman 70.3 finishes in both Nice and Lanzarote.
April 2022: Lee runs her way into the medals
At Challenge Salou in north-eastern Spain, Lee recovers from a disappointing bike leg to post the fastest run split and take bronze.
June 2022: Is part of history in Germany
Acts as a pacer for Kat Matthews’ Sub8 attempt in Germany. She’s the only athlete to pace for all three disciplines, and is ultimately successful as Matthews clocks a 7:31:54 to become the first female triathlete to break 8 hours over an iron distance.
June 2022: European 70.3 bronze comes Lee’s way
Two months later, bronze is again the colour as Lee earns herself a medal at the Ironman 70.3 European championships in Elsinore in Denmark behind compatriot Emma Pallant-Browne and Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle.
July 2022: Gold completes Lee’s set of Challenge medals
After silvers and bronzes, Lee finally wins a Challenge race. In Vansbro in Sweden, she dominates right from the off with a swim that’s more than two and a half minutes quicker than the rest of the field.
October 2022: Penalty interrupts the race of her life
Lee is stung with a 5min penalty at the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championship and finishes 11th. It’s a cruel blow as she was having the race of her career in third place and could well have finished in the top five.
November 2022: Top 10 in her first Ironman
Finishes sixth at Ironman Israel, her first full-distance event. Her compatriot and friend Ruth Astle takes the win.
March 2023: Silver in Lanza
Back at the 70.3 distance, she takes a solid second in Lanzarote. The winner, Anne Haug, crosses the line 12mins ahead.
May 2023: Champion of The Championship
Lee smashes the course record at The Championship in Samorin, Slovakia, with a time of 3:58:29. The previous owner was Lucy Charles-Barclay, set in 2019.
March 2024: Wins her first 100k
Takes the tape at the first T100 race in Miami having produced the day’s fastest bike split and then taking the lead from Charles-Barclay and holding strong on the run with another fastest split.
May 2024: Back to back wins in Samorin
Successfully defends her Championship title in 3:56:45 and also breaks her own course record by more than two minutes.
India Lee in quotes
On maintaining perspective: “The sport can seem pretty important when you’re in it, but in the grand scheme of things, we’re just trying to get from A to B as quick as we can. It’s not really changing the world. But it can change your world, so make the most of it.”
On finding her bike’s thru-axle sheared in half after an Easyjet flight to Alicante: “I unzipped the bag and just stood there staring at it with my hands on my knees. The more I looked at it, the more I saw how bad it was.”
On the future: “My ambition over the next few years is to step up to Ironman and be competitive over that distance in championship races. I need to build on the consistency I’ve achieved and to be patient. I believe it’s possible.”
What’s next for India Lee?
The T100 format is Lee’s main focus for 2024, but so far that Miami win has been her best result to date. A DNF in Singapore and an 8th in San Francisco have followed.
Top image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images for Ironman
Nige Tassell
Freelance sportswriter 
