Kate horses for courses transition

Kate Doughty will take her place at Rio’s Copacabana Beach this month
where paratriathlon will make its Paralympic Games debut. Attending the
Games has been a 20-year dream for the 33-year-old Melbournian, but
instead of riding a bike, Kate envisioned her Paralympic fantasy to take place
on a horse – in the dressage arena.
Words: Keagan Ryan | Images: Delly Carr
KATE’S
HORSESFORCOURSESTRANSITION
24| Triathlon & Multisport Magazine www.triathlonmag.com.au
FeatureStory | KateDoughty
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www.triathlonmag.com.au Triathlon & Multisport Magazine | 25

K
ate Doughty wasn’t a triathlete
until 2014. She didn’t know the
difference between a time trial
bike and a road bike. Two short
years later and Kate is representing
Australia at the Rio Paralympics, continuing what
has been a meteoric rise in the sport. Kate, who
was born without a right hand, competes in the
PT4 category, which comprises of athletes with
a below-the-elbow arm amputation, below-the-
knee amputation, partial loss of arm muscle
power, lower limb deficiency or mild neurological
impairments. While her para-triathlon career
to date is only short, it’s already sweet – with
ITU medals in Yokohama (two gold), Penrith
(gold), Sunshine Coast (silver), Detroit (bronze)
and Chicago (bronze). But up until two years
ago Kate dreamed of representing Australia at
the Paralympics by walking out her horse, Al
Capone, into the dressage arena rather than
wheeling her bike out of T1.
Kate had been a horse rider since the age
of six. Triathlon was the farthest thing from
her mind.
“I started out doing a lot of swimming from a
young age, which proved to be quite a strength
for me, so I did a lot of school swimming,”
she said.
“But horses were in the blood. I was asked
if I wanted to train with the para-swimmers,
but being young I had to choose between
swimming and equestrian; I couldn’t do both.
Triathlon wasn’t on my radar at all. It wasn’t until
2008 when I started having a bit of interest.”
Kate’s decision to focus on equestrian
was reinforced by constant success at the
professional level, including multiple national
championships across para-equestrian dressage
and freestyle as well as a place at the 2010
World Equestrian Games. However, that 2010
competition would prove a defining moment in
Kate’s professional sporting career as well as
her life. In 2009-’10 Kate’s mother’s, Vicki, breast
cancer returned. Naturally, this proved a difficult
time for Kate but the challenges were magnified
by the fact the mother and daughter were
essentially a two-woman team for all of Kate’s
equestrian career. Vicki shadowed Kate at every
professional meet and was a constant source
of support.
“My whole career had been Mum and I and
the horses; that’s how it worked. She knew the
highs and lows. If I had a one per cent difference
in my scores, she knew what that meant rather
than it being just a number,” Kate said.
“She was too sick at the time to be flying
around for the qualifiers, so I was flying from
camps in Melbourne and Toowoomba to the
Sunshine Coast, where she was receiving

www.triathlonmag.com.au Triathlon & Multisport Magazine | 27
treatment…I was all over the place. That was the
only event (2010 World Equestrian Games) in my
whole career that she was unable to be at…that
was really tough.”
Vicki passed away two months after the
World Equestrian Games. Obviously, losing
someone you hold so dear is difficult but there
were multiple ripple effects for Kate. A critical
part of her equestrian career was missing but
her mother’s passing was also an awakening
of sorts.
“I think what I learnt from her health
deteriorating so rapidly (Vicki was 60)…it was a
real reality check,” she said.
“I had achieved everything I wanted to do
in equestrian but I still wanted to go to the
Paralympics, but I knew that wasn’t going to be
with equestrian. I had a lot of heartache at the
Worlds with my horse being sick…I nearly lost
him before the event. So I thought, I don’t want
to be 10 years down the track and doing the
same thing. It was a melancholy moment.”
Kate retired from high-level para-equestrian in
2011 but she continued competing in able-body
events at a reasonable level. It wasn’t the same
and deep down she knew the best way to move
on was to make a clean break from the sport
that had been her livelihood.
“For me the only way I was going to be able
to try new stuff, to even dabble in them, was
really to close the doors totally on equestrian,”
she said.
“Which was the hardest thing to do because
the only one that can make that decision is me.
I had to sell my horse that I’d had since he was
four…my only real connection left with mum
[outside of family]. It took four years to sell him
but he went to a good home.
“I look back now and think it was one of the
hardest, unknown decision I’ve made. But it’s
been one of the best. I’ve learnt that life is short
and you really have to jump and take the risks
and see where you land. Losing Mum really
taught me that.”
Taking the leap of faith from equestrian to
triathlon has certainly paid off for Kate, who will
proudly wear the green and gold in Rio. But the
transition from horse to swim, bike, run wasn’t
all smooth sailing. After all, equestrian had been
second nature to Kate since she was six. On a
professional level, it was essentially learning to
walk again.
“I went from an elite high-performance level
in one sport to triathlon, which was like going
back to basics…I was a real novice. I didn’t even
know how to clip my feet into the bike. I didn’t
even know how to ride a road bike let alone
a TT bike. I couldn’t even get into my wetsuit
properly; I always needed help doing that. I

had no idea really,” she said. “But I guess that’s
how you learn. You’ve got to start and throw
yourself out there. All of it was quite foreign to
me apart from swimming. I really had to build up
a different cardiovascular system and build up
different muscles. It was a challenge but I was
enjoying it too. The tri community as a whole is
really great; it’s very different from the equestrian
world…everyone’s really supportive. I made sure
I surrounded myself with people who knew more
than me, but egos aside, there’s no judgement. It
doesn’t matter if you’re an elite, an age-grouper
or just starting out, there’s always support.
“What’s kept me successful, even in the
equestrian years, is staying humble and true
to yourself. You get out what you put in and
it’s about doing the hard yards and making
sacrifices. I am pretty chuffed but it’s been a long
time coming. For 20 years I’ve always wanted
to go to the Paralympics. I’ve been slogging
away at this goal from all different angles for a
long time. I’m on this journey and don’t plan on
getting off anytime soon.”
Overcoming the death of her mother and
completely reprogramming her body for a
foreign sport wasn’t the first time Kate has faced
adversity in her life. Growing up without a hand
presented daily tests for Kate, especially during
her school days. Kids can be insensitive but she
learnt to deal with the bullying.
“For me, I was moulded by my parents. They
wanted me to have every opportunity I could.
Everyone gets bullied, it’s natural, but I learnt to
be tough about it. I’d get comments like ‘where’s
my hook?’ but I’d talk to the teachers about it
and the kid would end up in the principal’s office,
so I kind of won there. But I always had a big
group of friends. Half of them would forget about
it and say ‘oh give me a hand to do something’.
So I’ve always been capable of figuring out how
to do things,” Kate said.
“We had to learn a musical instrument in
Grade 3, which was violin. They put myself and
another girl with Down syndrome in another
room while everyone else had music lessons.
My parents weren’t too keen on that so I learnt to
use a myoelectric hand. It would open and close
based on my wrist movements. I did that for a
couple of years and was lucky enough to meet
the Rolling Stones after winning the Melbourne
Junior Achiever Award in ’93.
“My parents always told the school; the
teachers would know so it wasn’t awkward in
class. The thing that outweighed not having a
hand was the standard bullying, bitching and
heartbreak with boys…the standard stuff of life
was what bothered me more than anything.”
Outside of school, and more specifically in
regards to triathlon, each race presents its own
challenge for Kate. As with any endurance
event there are mental and physical obstacles
to overcome, but Kate also has to combat the
absence of a hand. Obviously the swim and,
as she mentioned earlier, adjusting wetsuits are
difficulties faced during a race, but there are also
hurdles with training and preparing for events.
“Strength and conditioning can be challenging
at times because my right arm and shoulder are
never going to develop to the equal of my left –
it won’t form that way. That can be a challenge
and we’re constantly modifying things in the gym
so we’re not overloading my left,” she said.
“The swim is always the biggest challenge. I
have to really concentrate on the pull-through on
“I’MSTILLSOYOUNGINTHESPORT.IDON’T
THINKI’VEREALLYFOUNDWHATMYLIMITS
ANDPOTENTIALMIGHTBEJUSTYET.”

To contribute to
the crowdfunding
program
for the Australian
paratriathlon
team go to
http://asf.org.au/
make-donation/
australian-elite-
paratriathlon-
team
the right and I’m definitely limited on the right in
the swim.
“Running with my bike, holding the saddle I
balance my wrist on the saddle so I can have
the other arm free. I can’t do a fly-mount very
well plus I’m not that coordinated, so it doesn’t
turn out well. I’ve modified my bike a bit now but
when I’m up on the bars, if I slip I’ll pretty much
fall off. Di2 is a godsend and I have dual break
leavers, operated on one brake on the left.”
Even though triathlon doesn’t have the
emotional connection to her mother that
equestrian harnessed, Kate says she’s motivated
by Vicki and will leave nothing in the tank at
Rio. Kate believes her mother is beside her
every step of the way, and often uses her spirit
as a tool to help her refocus when the going
gets tough.
“I’m not one to preach on spirituality, but I
know she’s always around; in some way she’s
always guiding me,” Kate said.
“Sometimes I wish she was around so I could
ask her stuff because I’m hopeless at making
decisions. So she’ll be there and I think about
her in every race, especially in the water when
I think ‘oh my God, I’m ready to finish now and
I haven’t even gone 10 minutes’. I have her
maiden name (Norton) tattooed on my wrist and
the dragonfly, which symbolises strength. At the
end of every race I’ll honour her and point to the
sky…she definitely keeps me going.”
In terms of results, Kate only naturally dares to
dream of a podium finish and having a medal,
whether it is gold, silver or bronze, laid around
her neck. But most importantly she wants to be
able to look herself in the eye and know she
gave the Paralympics everything she has. After
all, it has been a 20-year dream in the making.
“My main thing apart from that (medalling) is
knowing I’ve done everything possible to have
the best performance on the day. I’ve made so
many sacrifices…I just want to be able to finish
with no regrets,” she said.
But what about post-Rio plans? Kate may be
33 but she’s only an infant in terms of her para-
triathlon career, having only started a couple of
years ago. After the Games she plans to stick to
the ITU format and has already begun planning
her year with training, races and the world
championships.
“I’m still so young in the sport. I don’t think I’ve
really found what my limits and potential might
be just yet,” she said.
While her immediate future in Olympic-
distance racing is assured, natural progression
in triathlon almost assumes athletes advance to
70.3 and iron-distance events. Kate, however,
isn’t convinced about any desires to extend
beyond the sprint formats.
“There’s a bug in my head ticking away, just
because I watch a few people and how they
transition into long-course stuff. Part of me, deep
down, hopes I don’t consider it, only for the
sanity of my partner and myself,” she said.
“I don’t know what my body would do, so I
don’t think I’d go further than 70.3…maybe for
fun but I do love the sprint and ITU stuff.”
Triathlete, horse rider and public speaker,
you’d think Kate has enough on her mind, but
it’s above the shoulders where Kate arguably
does her best work: as a registered psychologist

with a master of organisational and industrial psychology.
Kate uses evidence-based techniques and methodologies to
benefit individuals, teams and organisations and help them
fulfil their potential.
“It started at a young age but it was more health
psychology. But then I started to evolve into sports psychology
with the high-performance element of equestrian,” she said.
“Organisations can benefit from high-performance psych
and my passion for psych is about understanding people
and getting the best out of them – whatever the environment.
Looking at what makes that individual tick, team culture and
organisations as a whole…it’s really about helping others
identify and reach their goals.”
In a constant mental grind like triathlon you’d think such
skills would be beneficial. Kate isn’t convinced, but she
identifies where it helps and hinders her performance
while competing.
“It can be my worst enemy at times. If I’m in a training set
I’ll question myself, especially if I’m having a bad day. But
part of me knows I’m using it as an outlet because I’m tired
or fatigued. So it bothers me because I know I’m better than
that,” she said.
“I think overall it helps. I think it’s helped me transition over
and adjust to the new sport as quickly as I have. Even just
understanding the high-performance mindset.
“On race day it’s all go; when I race it’s just all a mental
mind game.”
Kate’s rise in para-tri has been swift, so much so she’s barely
had the time to reflect on what has been a remarkable transition
from one elite level sport to another. Equestrian had been
second nature to Kate since she was six years old, you’d expect
her to think about the ‘whats’ and ‘ifs’. ‘What if she stayed in
equestrian? Where would she be now?’ Kate’s not one to dwell
on the past and refuses to live with regrets that will potentially
hold her back moving into the future. Obviously horse riding
was a major component in her life, but Kate lives knowing she
satisfied that passion to its potential.
“Once I made the decision to close that chapter of my life,
I had to really give myself the opportunity to be open to new
opportunities and never let the ‘what if?’ get me,” she said.
“I never wanted to live with regrets and I never closed the
door (on equestrian) until I was ready. Hence why it took
four years.
“The world champs were as good as going to the Paralympics
and I continued to do ablebody stuff at a higher level.
“I don’t like to look back because it’s not going to help the
future. I still ride but I love triathlon, it’s so rewarding. It’s nice to be
able to get on a bike, get off, put it against the wall and not have
to feed it.
“Mentally I’m more suited to tri than dressage. But that
being said, if I could have my horse back I probably would in
a heartbeat.”
Now she’s riding, or more accurately cycling, toward an
undoubtedly bright future.
The paratriathlon will take place on 10-11 September in
Rio.

Kate horses for courses transition

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