Despite winning the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2016 and finishing on the podium again as recently as 2019, Holly Lawrence was more often overlooked by pundits and fans when it came to predicting the podium at the Miami T100.
On race day, however, the British star showed why it is always a mistake to count her out, as she impressed across all disciplines on her way to finishing third, picking up a first podium since June 2023.
Recapping the race on her YouTube channel, Lawrence revealed that the success came as no great surprise to her or coach and partner Sean Jefferson, thanks in part to nailing a great winter of training.
“I think there’s definitely a lot more than that”
Given that the season is barely underway, Lawrence should take a lot of confidence from her performance in Miami and as one of the contracted athletes on the T100 Tour has already banked some considerable points for the overall rankings.
Reacting to the comments that she was “back”, the 34-year-old admitted that whilst she hadn’t been at her best in recent years, she felt that she had only scratched the surface in Miami.
“Everyone was saying Holly was back and I didn’t think it was a great performance. I didn’t think I had an amazing performance or anything, it’s just where I am after a good off season and I think there’s definitely a lot more than that.
“I haven’t been racing to my true potential these last couple of years, but this season has been good with a strong base phase over the past few months.”
Much more still to come
Discussing with Jefferson what had made the difference in Miami, the pair agreed that not racing a late season event in 2023 had allowed Lawrence more time than usual to build a solid base for the upcoming season.
“[Racing late in the season] robs from you a little bit of just doing that lower intensity work which you can then build out, because normally during the winter there’s a lot of that during that base.”
With a strong foundation to build from for the remainder of the series, the PTO World #13 can now set her sights on a first ever win over the 100km distance. Whilst she is currently undecided on her next race, the second stop of the T100 Tour will be in Singapore on April 13-14.
