Fernanda Keller

Fernanda Keller entered her first triathlon in Rio de Janeiro in 1983 while at university, at a time when almost no women in Brazil competed in the sport and there was no clear path to doing it professionally. She kept racing anyway, turning to it seriously as a career from 1987 when triathlon was still a fringe pursuit even in countries where it was more established.

Her signature event became the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, a punishing full day of swimming, cycling and running that has broken far more careers than it has made. She finished third there six times, in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, becoming the first Brazilian woman to stand on the podium at the race and earning the nickname the Queen of Brazil, even though the outright world title always went to someone else.

She kept competing at an elite level for far longer than most triathletes manage, racing in Kona for 23 consecutive years and recording 14 top-ten finishes there across her career, along with three victories at Ironman Brazil. In total she completed more than a hundred Ironman-distance races.

In 1998 she founded the Instituto Fernanda Keller in Rio de Janeiro, a social project that has supported hundreds of children and teenagers from low-income backgrounds through sport and education, work she has continued long after stepping back from professional racing.