Two Sports, One Ambition: An Interview with Kitty Scott

At 16, Kitty Scott is already competing for Great Britain in both athletics and triathlon, and the obvious question follows her everywhere. Which one will she choose? For now, her answer is neither.

Kitty Scott has a problem most young athletes would love to have.

At 16, she is already competing for Great Britain in both athletics and triathlon, and getting good enough at both that one obvious question increasingly follows her.

Which one will she choose?

For now, Kitty's answer is neither.

Her year naturally divides between the two sports. "In the winter, I definitely do cross country because obviously it's not triathlon season," while in the summer, when she admits she is "not a big fan of the track", her focus shifts towards triathlon.

Currently she is simply "trying to do both because I really enjoy both."

And so far, it is working.

From running with Mum to racing for Britain

Running came first.

Kitty remembers joining her mum on runs when she was younger, sometimes while her sister rode alongside them on a bike. Triathlon arrived around Year Five, without any suggestion of where it might eventually take her.

One of her earliest memories is a Thames Turbo Triathlon session she found so difficult that her dad tried to motivate her with the promise of a takeaway after future sessions.

Her first indication that triathlon could become something more came when she made the London team for the Inter Regional Championships while still at primary school. Kitty remembers thinking it was "a massive deal", particularly because the team Tri suit had GBR printed across the front.

A few years later, those three letters would become reality.

Learning to compete internationally

Kitty's first European Junior Cup took her to Romania, where she arrived with almost no expectations. She remembers being ranked "second last or something" before the race.

The trip initially felt more like a holiday with friends than the beginning of an international breakthrough.

As the race started she found herself in the second bike pack before closing rapidly during the run. Suddenly, coaches were shouting that she was around ten seconds from the lead.

Her reaction was simple. "I just sprinted. I was sprinting for my life."

Then the gap closed entirely and, storming ahead, Kitty took her first international win.

Until then, most of her triathlon experience had come within Britain's Super Series races. Romania gave her proof that she could compete internationally.

The victory made her realise, as she puts it, that she "could compete at European level and not die."

It is typical of Kitty that one of the biggest victories of her young career is described with humour rather than grandeur.

Racing older, learning faster

Competing above her age group has become a recurring part of Kitty's development.

Earlier this year she faced athletes around four years older than her in her first sprint distance European Junior Cup in Portugal.

She finished third.

Then came perhaps the clearest example yet of just how quickly Kitty was progressing.

At only 15, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the World Under 20 Cross Country Championships.

Rather than viewing opportunities like these purely through results, she sees them as preparation. "At my age it's all about building the experience," she recalls.

But racing older athletes brings pressure.

After winning two English Schools cross country titles, she became increasingly aware of the expectations surrounding major races and admits that nerves have sometimes affected her performances.

Her training group helped reshape how she sees that pressure. Their message, inspired by tennis legend Billie Jean King, is that "it's a privilege to have the pressure on you."

The nerves have not disappeared. She jokes that she even gets nervous for sports day.

But she has learned to accept them.

"If you get nervous, it means you care about it."

The work nobody sees

Kitty's success across two sports becomes more striking once her training week is unpacked.

There are cycling intervals, sometimes before school, multiple swimming sessions, two running interval sessions, long rides around Richmond Park, cross country work and strength training.

Swimming remains perhaps the biggest challenge. Kitty jokes that "you have to swim for like eight hours a week to get 0.1 seconds faster".

Cycling developed later. She explains she did very little structured cycling until around two years ago, when triathlon began becoming more serious.

Now the three disciplines are increasingly balanced.

Triathlon has also helped her running. She believes swimming and cycling have made her stronger while providing significant aerobic training without the repeated impact of running.

But being a strong runner does not mean Kitty expects simply to survive the swim and bike before taking over on foot.

She admits she "used to think that way", but now believes it was "kind of naive because everyone's so strong."

Running after cycling is completely different to arriving fresh on a track start line.

Friendship and European gold

One of Kitty's favourite experiences came at the European Junior Mixed Relay Championships, where she raced the third leg for Great Britain.

Team racing brought a different kind of pressure because, as she explains, "you don't want to let the other people down."

Kitty was sent out close to the front and kept Britain in contention before handing over to her teammate.

Then came the waiting as she and the rest of the team watched on the large screens as their teammate moved clear.

"You know that's your teammate in first and you're with the rest of the team. You're so happy."

Surprise, surprise, Great Britain won.

Yet, she returns to the friendships around racing almost as much as the result itself. Many of the athletes travelling around Europe together have become close friends.

Those relationships are also part of what keeps her progressing.

Kitty believes "consistency is really important", particularly on the days when motivation disappears. She has learned that not every session needs to be exceptional.

Sometimes, getting it done is all that matters.

The colouring book

For all the international races and serious training, one of her most revealing routines happens away from competition.

Before races, she colours.

The habit began when she messaged a friend the night before a race telling her how nervous she was. Her friend suggested buying a colouring book to take her mind away from competing.

She did exactly that and has used one before races ever since.

Some efforts receive better reviews than others. One friend, Tom, apparently awarded one of her creations only three out of ten.

It is a small detail, but an important one.

Behind the results is still a teenager learning how to deal with expectation. The nerves have not disappeared as she has become more successful.

She has simply found ways of managing them.

No need to choose

Eventually, the obvious question returns.

Running or triathlon?

Kitty has no intention of answering it yet.

"There's definitely not a plan," she says. Instead, she wants to discover "how long I can progress and how good I can get at both."

Asked to choose one achievement above everything else, she settles on the Olympics.

But when the conversation turns towards the next five years, her answer is less about medals.

She wants to "continue competing for GB at both for as long as possible", continue improving and, crucially, "keep enjoying it."

That same perspective shapes her advice to younger athletes.

She believes they should "not take it too seriously" because, even at 16, she has to remind herself that she still has "so many years ahead".

For now, Kitty Scott does not need to decide whether she is a runner or a triathlete.

She is succeeding as both.

The choice may come eventually.

Right now, she is too busy finding out how far both can take her.