Fenella Langridge: Happiness comes first, gold follows

Words by Laura Markwardt. Photography by: Korupt Vision and Billy Harriss.

On triathlete, Fenella Langridge dreams about racing: “The kind of dreams where you can’t finish, or for some odd reason you miss the start. Or you reach, and you can’t get it.”

In waking life too, Langridge’s podium-topping strength and commitment run counter to those rare circumstances beyond her control. 

The British pro dedicated herself to winning middle-distance triathlon medals before progressing to the long course, the full Ironman – a consecutive 2.4-mile (3,800m) swim, 112-mile (180km) bike and 26-mile (42km) run – over the past five years.

In 2022, Langridge competed at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, the most iconic event in the triathlete's calendar, known for serving up tears of pain, joy and gritty cross-winds. She finished sixth in a stacked field with an impressive time of 8 hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds.

“It was a highlight, taking second place at Challenge Roth in Germany in 2022 [8:31:41], and finishing sixth in Kona that same year,” she recalls. “I just felt pure passion and enjoyment. It was great to show other people that you can race at the highest level, and still have fun.”

Fast-forward to the 2023 Ironman Worlds, and Langridge again reached for a pace-defying finish. She came 30th.

“I made the wrong decision at the start of the swim, which wasn't the end of the world,” she says, “I came back and put myself in the right position on the bike. But then my hip started hurting, and I couldn't push the same power. Mentally, my thoughts went to that.”

As her pain grew and speed faltered, Langridge tried to distract herself. She reasoned that finishing on the bike – an out-and-back course – would be quicker than pulling out there and then. 

“It was windier on the back [leg of the course]. I had more of a headwind and I was on my own, so it made for a long ride, with a lot of time to think.” 

Determination, and the universal motivator – not wanting to quit in front of her competitors – pushed Langridge from her bike to the final stage run. It was there that she spotted her partner and coach, Billy Harriss, and her friends in the crowd. A wave of emotion dragged her over the finish line. 

Langridge’s experience – and the strength of will she had to complete that final stage – echoes the spirit of the 2022 Ironman World Champion and On triathlete, Chelsea Sodaro, in her 2023 conversation with Rich Roll, “the sign of a true champion is when you give everything even when you see the win slipping out of your grasp.” 

Today, Langridge puts the contrasting fortunes of those races in context, “Obviously I want to be highly competitive, but I’m in it for the long game and the experiences I get along the way.” 

Holding a long view of success and flexibility around her identity informs Langridge’s holistic view of what sport can offer, beyond her notable medal collection.

As we speak, Langridge is opening herself up to a new training experience in “outdoorsy” Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, Australia, where she's based for the next few months.

“After racing in Hawaii last year, it was so close to Australia in comparison to the UK, Bill and I decided to just keep on going. I’m in love with this place, and the work/life balance is perfect.”

It’s this search for opportunity that keeps Langridge’s sunny disposition, dialed high, “I want to enjoy it and make it all last longer. It’s exciting to see where work can take me, and that will evolve as I evolve.”

Just a few weeks after our chat, Langridge reports putting in some serious time with the award-winning John Rodgers Noosa swim squad. She clocks up 95k (59 miles) of swimming in just 20 days, finding joy – and fine-honing her technique – in the water.

Langridge follows that up by closing out the 2023 racing season in Australia on a high: She takes silver at the Challenge Canberra Middle Distance/Half Ironman [4:20:57] and then tops the year with a full display of transcendent talent, by taking gold at Ironman Oceania [8:29:43] – her first professional Ironman win, and she even squeezes in some dance moves for her fans along the way. 

As she boards her flight back to the UK, Langridge is still processing that undulating ride to glory, 

“It’s been a solid year, like a rolling road going up and down through the emotions and sensations of the season. Then, ‘bam’ when I least expect it, right as the season closes out, I get hit with the ‘big one’, the elusive Ironman win. I’m living in the moment and embracing good vibes right now.” 

Langridge attributes her “bounce-back-ability” to her sporty, but relaxed, upbringing. She enjoyed swimming and had a gift for running but wasn’t super competitive, “It was just for fun, to keep active and to be with friends.” 

Raised in South-west England, she spent her formative years living with her mum above a traditional village pub. At Cardiff University, she joined the Welsh Triathlon Development Squad where her [former] “amazing” coach, Andy Lane, equipped her with the science-led foundations of professional-level training.

At that time, Langridge’s focus was draft-legal racing [fast bike racing in a close group to minimize wind resistance] where she met the criteria for the World Cup selections. After Cardiff, her training continued on the Bath University campus and at athlete camps in the bright climes of Lanzarote. “Training camps are so much more efficient in terms of time and energy,” she says, “the days are longer, with more light. You get some precious time back, and recovery is so much easier.” 

Langridge, now 31, switched onto competitive triathlon in her early twenties – comparatively later than many athletes in the field. It was a natural progression for adventure-hungry Langridge, who reasons there’s always more to achieve beyond the horizon, “Even if you go faster, it never gets easier. You just keep pushing harder,” she explains.

Alongside that composed attitude and focused mindset of “pushing harder,” Langridge also concedes a balance – that success lies in the equal pursuit of intentional, quality recovery.

“I still find it hard to sit down and not do much, but I’ve worked to get better [at recovery]. Baking’s one of the ways I switch off. You just need a bit of something sweet, a bit of something to hold it together, a bit of this, a bit of that.” 

Langridge speaks to the magic of mixing simple ingredients in optimal amounts, to get a show-stopping result. It’s easy to make a connection between following a recipe and her daily training routine: everything in the right measure. 

Langridge gives many of her culinary creations away so, as you’d imagine, she’s popular with the neighbors. Her recovery time may be relaxed, but her elite-level discipline is serious,

“Each sacrifice sounds tiny, but there are many of those tiny things that I do daily, consciously or subconsciously, to put myself in the optimal position to show up and do a quality training session every day. Hopefully, over time, that leads to consistent results on race day.”

When I bring the conversation back to her long-term vision for the future, Langridge laughs. It’s hard to see beyond her next race, but staying in sports, in a mentorship or coaching role would appeal, “Perhaps I’d even have a little sports café with a yoga and cycle studio. One that served good cake – something like that.”

The energy Langridge puts into her race preparation is exceptional, but her main goal is “that it doesn’t detract from my intrinsic happiness or enjoyment of the competition. You have the agency to decide what you want from the sport.”

Health – and happiness comes first, and to that end, the triathlon community means a lot to Langridge. “I love to see other athletes enjoying the race. Even when I wasn’t having my best race at Kona 2023, I cheered for other women, and you could see their enthusiasm growing from that. Their success and energy motivates me towards bigger things.” 

Langridge’s “reaching dreams” don’t stop – and that’s the point, “Winning is something that’s never a guarantee and not taken for granted.” 

Both the joy of the process, and her long-term trajectory, come before her podium-topping position, even as she closes out her 2023 season with Ironman Oceania gold. A consummate professional, Langridge proves that, when the measures are right, the medals follow.

“Doing challenging things makes me happy,” she smiles. “That’s why I keep coming back for more.”