Mother-of-three Caroline Chaverot favourite to win gruelling MSIG Lantau 50
The 40-year-old high school teacher has been dominating the women’s competition after experiencing heartbreak by missing out on qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in kayak slalom
Closing in on the final gate of the kayak slalom competition, Caroline Chaverot was confident she had her Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games qualification spot in the bag. But just a split second later the Swiss’ dreams drowned as she somehow narrowly missed the final checkpoint. Devastated, Chaverot, then 20, swore never to compete in any sport ever again.
Fast forward 20 years later and Chaverot is winning some of the world’s most prestigious trail running ultramarathons. In the past 18 months she has dominated the women’s competition, claiming victories in numerous big races including July’s Skyrunning World Championships (105 kilometres) in Spain, the 168km Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) – considered the World Cup of ultrarunning – in September, and the 2016 IAU Trail World Championships (85km) in Portugal in October, just days after turning 40 years of age.
In Hong Kong for the first time this week, in-form Chaverot is undoubtedly the favourite for Sunday’s MSIG Lantau 50, a 54km trail race around Lantau Island that doubles up as the International Skyrunning Federation’s Asian Skyrunning Championships.
In spite of her extensive trophy cabinet, Chaverot’s competitive trail running career has been relatively brief - she only did her first trail race in 2012, six months after giving birth to her third child.
“I decided to start running to get back in shape. But I never guessed I would have such good results; it was a surprise for me,” she said.
