Canadian Paula Findlay is confident she has put her injury setbacks behind as she prepares for the San Francisco T100 race this Saturday.  

The 35-year-old burst onto the scene just over a decade ago, spending much of 2010 and 2011 top of the triathlon rankings and was poised to contend for a medal in London 2012 only to finish last after struggling with a hip injury.  

But though the London Games would prove to be the start of an injury nightmare for much of the following years, Findlay expressed her optimism for the road ahead.  

She revealed: ‘‘I’ve had a lot of injuries so the more I can stay consistent with my running and build throughout the year is critical for me as an older athlete, just making sure I’m smart about my racing.  

‘‘It’s interesting because I started my career really well as a twenty-year-old and my late teens and raced really well, but then I had a lot of struggles and was actually really unhealthy for a lot of years.  

‘‘Now I’m 35 and I’m actually in better shape and healthier than I have been in a long time so I think age aside, I’ve kind of found my stride, found a good niche with long-course triathlon and figuring out how to manage everything and just make sure that I stay healthy.  

‘‘I’ve found that if I can stay healthy that’s the only thing I need to do to race well because I’m confident in my ability to be competitive and fierce on the race course.  

‘‘My biggest struggle in my career is just to not get injured and I’ve finally figured out how to do that so I can keep racing for years and years. I’m not sure how much longer but hopefully a few more at least!’’  

True to her words, Findlay has enjoyed a second wind in recent years, with the Edmonton native a model of consistency on the track.  

The 35-year-old hasn’t finished outside of the top-10 in a triathlon since 2019 and though Findlay missed out on the second stage of the T100 in Singapore, she finished the first race in Miami in fourth, the highest of any North American.  

But despite her recent achievements, Findlay is keeping focused and not getting too far ahead of herself.

She added: ‘‘Just staying consistent is important for me. If I Become top 3 in the series or top 5 that’d be amazing. The name of the game with this is consistency and performing well at every race and not necessarily winning every race.  

‘‘Just turning up, being mentally on it and being healthy and if I can finish in the top 5 six times that’ll put me in a really good position to do well overall.  

‘‘That’s my goal - to not just get carried away by any one race but to perform well across the whole year.’’  

Watch the world’s best triathletes compete in San Francisco T100 live on Saturday 8 June from 1345 UK on PTO+ or on Eurosport 1 from 10pm CEST.  For more information go to https://t100triathlon.com/san-francisco/pro/