Sophie wins silver!

Here at Sheffield Children’s, we love to celebrate the wonderful things that our colleagues get up to, both as part of their roles and in their spare time. On this occasion we wanted to give a huge congratulations to Sophie Middleton, our Senior Operational Manager in Theatres, who has recently won a silver medal in the 2023 European Duathlon Championships in Venice!

After qualifying for the event last year, Sophie has expertly balanced her training with her career at Sheffield Children’s and childcare responsibilities, often finding herself participating in late-evening training sessions after a long shift at work. Completing the course at a blistering pace, Sophie conquered a gruelling 20km bike ride sandwiched between a 5k run and a 2.5km run respectively. She said “I have done a lot of training… it was hard, but it all came good in the end.”

Sophie has previously been involved in competitive cycling alongside her brother, and has always enjoyed running, so decided to combine both hobbies when her daughter was born.

“When I crossed the finish line, I felt so many emotions… I never expected to get back up to this competitive level after my daughter was born, but I wanted to show [her] that you can achieve these things if you want to.”

All of her colleagues at Sheffield Children’s were very excited to hear about Sophie’s achievements. When asked about how her team had supported her during this time, Sophie highlighted “They’ve been so supportive and full of praise. They know how much work I’ve put in and they were very proud.”

This is by no means the end of Sophie’s Duathlon journey. Just over two weeks after her performance in Venice, she took part in the Brighton Marathon. Sophie’s recent success has also confirmed her qualification for next year’s European Championships, where she will surely hope to replicate her achievements, or even go one better.