Selina Nunn
She’s an extraordinary athlete who’s won 13 world championships in four different sporting events, but 71-year-old Sharon Prutton remains incredibly humble.
“Gosh, I have done all those things, but until I start telling people what I’ve done, I can’t imagine doing them all!” she says modestly. “I feel like I am talking about someone else.”
There have also been plenty of national and international wins along the way, outside of world championships, and so many silver medals she “hasn’t taken note of them”.
The grandmother-of-seven’s most recent international event was the Abu Dhabi world age-group triathlon championships in November 2022.
Marc and Sharon with her amazing medal haul.
A shorter sprint triathlon was scheduled a few days before her event, so Sharon entered on a whim because “it would be good to see the course”.
Convincingly winning her age group world title, she backed it up two days later, taking out gold in her age group in the Olympic distance event. That’s a 1500m swim, 40km bike ride, followed by a 10km run in blistering heat – even the water was 28 degrees.
What’s even more remarkable is the active septuagenarian only learned to swim in her fifties.
She explains, “I’m not a great swimmer, but I’ve improved in the last two years through having a group of friends to enjoy it with. If people beat me on the swim, I catch them on the cycle.”
Growing up on a farm in Springston, about 20km from Christchurch, Sharon loved horse-riding but wasn’t particularly sporty. However, playing squash in her twenties – then running to be fit for
the indoors racket game – sparked her love of competing.
“All my life, having a group to do things with has been very important. My running friends were a life-saver in my early years with kids.”
In each decade of her life, Sharon has challenged herself with something new and in the process has achieved remarkable success.
Becoming a member of the Sumner Running Club, for instance, led to an interest in multisport, which she managed around raising her children.
True to her give-it-a-go nature, she entered the iconic Christchurch Coast to Coast, going on to win the gruelling 243km The Longest Day race six times in the over-40 category.
Her fifties brought more success and more adventure as she tackled and took out the extremely tough XTERRA World Championships, an off-road triathlon event.
In her sixties, Sharon decided to try out road cycling.
A young Marc giving Mum a hand in a race.
One of her four children, Marc Prutton, 39, is an endurance cycling coach and with his expert guidance, Sharon won another three world titles.
“He’s a very good coach, but I’m biased,” she says proudly.
Marc is equally impressed by his formidable mum.
“She has always been extremely determined and had uncanny ability to fit everything into her day,” he confides. “I’m sure there will be many adventures of hers to come.”
Daughter Michelle is quick to add, “Anyone who knows Mum would agree that she’s not just an amazing athlete but an all-round amazing person. Most days, she does her training in the morning, then spends the rest of the day helping us kids with childcare or gardening, or whatever it is that makes our lives easier.”
Between training most days, helping out with her soon-to-be eight grandchildren, plus maintaining her garden, there’s not a lot of spare time. But that’s just how Sharon likes it.
On the morning the Weekly visits, she has already been up early cycling around the town, collecting donated food for the Christchurch City Mission.
“I need to keep moving, to keep doing things,” Sharon reflects, adding that she is now focusing on triathlons.
A recent weekend saw her dominate the Tauranga Aquabike Championships, where she swam 1.9km and biked 90km to an age group win, which qualifies Sharon for the World Championship in Spain later this year.
As a self-funded athlete, Sharon’s yet to commit to the tournament as she’s also qualified for the Half Iron Man in Kona, Hawaii.
There’s no contesting the Cantabrian’s impressive achievements, but Sharon insists her family and friends, plus longtime local supporters like Matt Bailey from Cycleways, also deserve the credit.
Keep up, kids! Sharon with Marc, his wife, Michelle and grandkids.
“You can’t do it on your own, you’ve got to have friends,” insists Sharon, who nearly every morning, summer or winter, starts the day in the ocean, lake or river with the Scarborough Dippers.
She and her friends live by the motto, “Don’t let the old woman in” – and with no plans to slow down any time soon, it seems unlikely that “the old woman” will ever be fast enough to catch Sharon!
“I don’t think of myself as the age I am,” she enthuses. “I feel like I am perhaps in my 50s or 60s. I certainly don’t feel 71.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
