Jenny Alcorn

Jenny Alcorn (1959-3 March 2025) was an Australian triathlete and coach.

She is best known for winning the World Triathlon Duathlon Championships in 1992. She was the first Australian woman to win the event and is one of only three Australian women to have won the event, the others being Jackie Fairweather and Felicity Sheedy-Ryan.

In 2006, Alcorn trained a three-man triathlon team from the Solomon Islands prior to the team competing in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Alcorn served as the head coach of the Surfers Paradise Triathlon for over 30 years, training athletes such as Emma Snowsill and Ashleigh Gentle.

In 2016, she came out of retirement at the age of 55 to compete in the 2016 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, winning the 55 to 59 age group. She then competed in and won the World Triathlon Cross Championships in the Snowy Mountains in November 2016.

In 2018, Alcorn was selected as the flag bearer for the Australian team at the Age Group World Championships on the Gold Coast.

In 2021, AusTriathlon named Alcorn as a “Legend of the Sport”. She was also recognised at the 2024 AusTriathlon Awards with a President’s Special Recognition Award. She was also nominated for the Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Award in 2024.

In 2024, she revealed she had been diagnosed with Glioblastoma. Alcorn died on 3 March 2025.

References

  1. ↑ Triathlon Legend Jenny Alcorn Faces Toughest Challenge Yet
  2. ↑ Boswell, Tom (5 September 2018). "Gold Coast women Jenny Alcorn chases another world title after riding Tour de France climbs". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 August 2026. Alcorn has a rich history in triathlon. The Surfers Paradise Triathlon Club coach won the 1992 elite duathlon ITU world championship, the 2005 age group duathlon world championship and 2016 age group cross triathlon world championship. Alcorn has also won an ITU World Cup and finished in the top three of multiple 70.3 ironman and full ironman events...
  3. 1 2 "All the winners from the 2024 AusTriathlon Awards". AusTriathlon. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2026. the President's Special Recognition Award was presented to Gold Coast triathlon legend Jenny Alcorn, acknowledging her remarkable three-decade long career as both an athlete and a coach… Alcorn has achieved remarkable success, including an elite duathlon world title, four World Triathlon Age Group Championships, and an IRONMAN Age Group World Championship…
  4. ↑ "Aussie Felicity Sheedy-Ryan wins world duathlon title". news.com.au. Australian Associated Press. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2026. Sheedy-Ryan became the third Australian to claim the world crown, following Jenny Alcorn (1992) and Jackie Gallagher (1996 and 1999)…
  5. ↑ Lewis, Peter (17 February 2006). "Solomon Islands triathlon team prepares for Commonwealth Games". AM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 26 August 2026. Their coach, former world duathlon champion Jenny Alcorn, says the Solomon Island trio have been on a very steep learning curve…
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Triathlon legend Jenny Alcorn faces toughest challenge yet". AusTriathlon. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  7. ↑ O’Brien, Connor (3 November 2016). "Gold Coast triathlete Jenny Alcorn planning record-breaking return to Hawaiian Ironman Championship". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Boswell, Tom (21 November 2016). "Jenny Alcorn wins ITU Cross Tri World Championships at Lake Crackenback". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Hamilton, Grace (19 February 2024). "'There's a chance I could still be around': Aussie sporting icon sets sights on new milestone amidst battle with cancer". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 August 2026. …one of Australia's greatest sporting inspirations has been nominated for the prestigious Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Award…
  10. ↑ "Champion Australian triathlete Jenny Alcorn dies after battle with rare brain tumour". Seven News. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 26 August 2026.