Beth Potter: Plan B

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Beth Potter failed to medal in the 10,000m. Heartbroken, she quit running. In 2024, Beth returns to the Olympics as the World Triathlon Champion and the favourite to take the triathlon gold in Paris.

Plan B, a film by Santara Studios in partnership with ASICS, CADEX and Factor, tells the story of Beth’s grit, determination and bravery to leave everything she knew behind and attempt to find her feet in a new sport, all in pursuit of her Olympic dream.

#BethPotter #Triathlon #Olympics #WorldChampion

Partners

ASICS
IG: asicsrunning

CADEX
IG: cadexcycling

Factor
IG: factorbikes

Credits

Produced by Santara Studios
IG: @santarastudios

Producer
IG: @hollymeganhale

Directed, shot and edited by George Marshall
IG: georgemarshallphoto

She’s very determined. Nothing will stand in her way. Nothing. That’s not to say she doesn’t feel the pain. Psychological pain. I’m Beth Potter and I am the world champion. In triathlon. Shall I say that? Beth was a very easy child. Slept. Fed. No problem. No trouble at all.

I grew up in Glasgow. My parents, you know, took me to swimming, running. She was an easy teenager because she wasn’t into all the partying. In fact the biggest punishment she could get well I would say well you’re not going to training. If you don’t do that you’re not going training.

That was the worst punishment. To us it doesn’t matter whether she wins or loses. It matters so much to her. Rio was awful. One of my ever lasting memories is standing at the back of the stands with in floods of tears. I’ve had my fair share of awful experiences in races.

It’s hard to deal with, it’s hard to pick yourself up after a bad race and I don’t want that feeling, again. She finished the race but you know, she was very disappointed. We could tell there was something not right At the games picked up vomiting and diarrhoea bug and then

Didn’t actually perform my best at the at the champs. On the day if I had been 100% healthy, I think it could have been different, but I still felt like I never was going to be good enough to win a medal. And that’s what I’m looking for in

Sport. I want an Olympic medal and I felt like it was unachievable for me. When did you do all this? That’s the World Champs. Yeah, yeah, that was a famous one. I didn’t realise they had so much, to be honest. Um, yeah, it’s been some journey.

Some journey so far. Rabbit in the headlights. But yeah, she she loves winning, don’t they all? Birmingham Commonwealth Games when I won a bronze medal. This is after I broke the 5km world record, 14:41. I love winning. The first race I won was the first race I did in running.

So I actually didn’t get into running until I was maybe 13 years old. I did a lot of swimming and was entered in a race at school. And Beth kind of smashed the course record by about two minutes. Out of nowhere.

Then somebody come up to us saying you should get her into a running club. But that was the first time we realised that she could run a bit. And then that’s where the kind of spark for running happened. I’ll always be at the track on a Tuesday night.

Yeah, I just love training. I absolutely love training. It’s my favourite thing to do in the whole world. I like to hurt myself in training. I like to see how far I can push myself. I enjoy that sort of sadistic pain. It’s good. Right down to 2:23.

Yeah, it was a negative split on that last one. Tomorrow we have swim open water at the lake. So some sort of longer reps, short recovery and then a long ride. We don’t usually swim this late in the lake. We’ve been quite lucky this year.

I think it was really hard after Rio. I felt a bit lost afterwards, I didn’t really know what to do. I just wasn’t satisfied. I felt like I just needed a different goal, and a change. And I just needed to try something different.

And find a love for sport again. Because I’ve come from a swim background and I can run well, I think there was always a temptation to give triathlon a go. I think it was the fact that she hadn’t done well in Rio and… The Brownlee’s. The Brownlee’s.

And I met them in the McDonald’s in Copacabana. Spoke to them for half an hour an hour about the opportunity of coming to Leeds to do triathlon. That was a good goal last night Jonny wasn’t it? Which one? The one that England scored.

Oh yeah you mean Scotland? Scotland’s goal. I’d never even tried riding a bike. It seemed mental to quit my job and move to Leeds to give triathlon ago. I was 25 when I moved to Leeds. I didn’t have time. Yeah.

I didn’t have time to try other places I needed to come to the best place and give it one shot. So I actually moved in with Jonny Brownlee and yeah, joined in with the Olympic squad here in Leeds. I wasn’t that happy when I first moved here.

I was in like a bit of a dark place for a while, and I spent most days wondering whether I’d actually made the right choice. I left running, which was a safety net, like I was good at that. I just wasn’t going to be good enough.

And moved to a completely new city. I didn’t know anyone. I was throwing myself into an Olympic environment, which can be quite difficult. I was training with boys that were beating me and because I would get lapped in the pool, I would get dropped on the bike.

I felt like I wasn’t good at anything. It was really hard. It was a massive challenge. It was a very bold move, but you know, looking back, I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. What’s it like training with Beth?

Yeah it’s really cool. I mean, she’s not someone that chills very much in training. So it pushes herself and everybody else to their limits, and that’s very good I think. She came around and I fake tanned her back the other day, so that was good.

Yeah, she’s lovely, most competitive person I know. You’re good on camera. A natural. This is Charlie everyone. You coming for a walk? Where is your harness? Good boy. We are in Leeds just outside the city centre. It’s a Tuesday morning. It’s horrible today. Really grim weather is awful.

I think it makes it really tough getting through winters that are, you know, similar to how today is. I think that just gives you an added edge on race day. There were people who doubted me because I was a bit older than most people.

I was 25 years old. I had come from a running background. I hadn’t been swimming for years. I’d never ridden a bike. You could look and be thinking I don’t believe that this girl can do it. Obviously cycling is, or cycling was very new to me.

I’ve never ridden clipped in. I had never done any sort of cycling training. No chain gang, and no group riding. I’ve had to be really patient with the progress. In the back of my head I always give myself five years.

I felt like I needed to give it, you know, a set amount of time just to try and get better and just to try and… see if I could win something. 31 years of age, with her first World Championship Series event.

I felt like I’d waited so long to kind of, you know, win a race or win on the big stage. And then this season it just it all just clicked and it’s just happened. And Potter is going to take gold in Montreal.

Yeah, I feel like it was you know, three buses just came along. Abu Dhabi, Montreal, and the Paris test event. Basically the exact same course as the Olympics. It was a complete dress rehearsal, yeah. We were here for Paris, at home watching it on television and that was fantastic.

We were jumping around this very room. Punching the air as it looked as if it was in the bag. Yeah finally I feel like the hours of training here in Leeds have finally paid off. World Triathlon have put a post up. Comment who do you think will be the world champion.

Out of the seven comments so far, all my name. Mostly. We’re competing in the grand final in Pontevedra. If I finish on the podium there I will automatically seal my Olympic qualification. Here’s how we currently stand. Just 32 points separate series leader Beaugrand from the Scott Beth Potter.

If either wins today, they’ll be world champion for the very first time. Going into the race I was quite nervous. Probably not as nervous as I had been at other races in the season. So we are underway for this women’s grand final. Is it going

To be Potter, is it going to be Beaugrand. I didn’t feel great on the swim and bike. I got really cold in the water and it was only by the end of the bike leg like that I started to feel feel good. So I think I finally got some more

Warmth back into me. My teammate from GB was leading us out on the run and she did a really good job and you know, set the pace early on. Potter exactly where she wants to be. I think that course is just a combination of you know, everything I’ve worked for.

From being a teenager and running cross country up to spending hours in the pool and on the bike in Leeds. It all just came together. So Beth Potter now out front and I think we could probably call her a world champion elect.

As soon as I kind of got on there and had a bit of a gap you know, yeah, I thought it was mine to lose. Once it looked as if it was done it was it was amazing. It was really really emotional and a bit unreal in fact.

A look back and there’s no one there. Potter wins for Britain. When I crossed the line I was actually quite emotional but I think the main overriding feeling was just relief. Finally done it. Finally, you know, achieved what I really deep down thought I could achieve. And what is that achievement?

Being the best in the world. He she comes now. It’s been a really tough eight years, trying to kind of, find my feet in a new sport. Getting another opportunity to compete in an Olympic Games would mean so much to me.

I’m going to make sure I enjoy every second of it.