Barbara De Koning

A successful junior athlete, with six European Junior Cup podiums including three wins, to add to four Dutch national junior titles, De Koning also finished sixth in the Youth Olympic Games in Bueno Aires in 2018.

The 20-year-old is no stranger to Super League action either. She won the girl’s race in Malta in 2019 with a dominant performance, and also has Arena Games experience having competed in all three events last year in Munich, London and Singapore, with a best place finish of eighth in the Far East. This year she returned for more indoor action in the grand finale in London and finished 14th.

Racing has been more challenging in the senior ranks, but more continental cup podiums have followed and she has picked up valuable experience having raced four times on the World Triathlon Championship Series together with three World Cup outings – the best result being 18th place in Tiszaújváros in July over the sprint distance, having qualified in ninth from the semi-final. 

De Koning also fought back from a fall on the run in Krakow, Poland to finish 13th at the European Games in June. Currently, she is the youngest triathlete on the cusp of the top 50 in the world rankings and looking to follow Olympians Maya Kingma and Rachel Klamer in representing her nation at the Games.

Growing up in Britain she regularly competed in track and cross-country races for Milton Keynes Athletic Club, becoming Buckinghamshire cross-country champion, and swam at a regional level for the South East, as well as being a multiple winner as a junior on the British Super Series. 

After finishing 10th in the World Under-23 Championship in Abu Dhabi in November, De Koning reflected: “It’s been a huge step up to elite racing this year and I’m proud of all I’ve achieved. I’ve grown the most as an athlete and person this season whilst enjoying the journey, trusting the process and doing it the way that is best for me.”

Kicking off 2023 by racing in continental cups in Africa, she almost produced a clean sweep of five successive victories with two wins in South Africa, plus further successes in Namibia and Morocco, and a second place in  Zimbabwe. It was even more impressive having struggled with an intestinal infection and a parasite in the fortnight leading into her first race.

De Koning lines up for defending champions Bahrain Victorious Scorpions in this year’s series, alongside established star names such as Cassandre Beaugrand and Leonie Periault.