Alumni Racing Toward her Second Olympics, Taylor Knibb ’20 Preps for Paris Stories You May Like Meet the Undergrad Who’s a 2023 World Wrestling Champ The Swim Test: A (Wet) Rite of Passage for Undergrads Karen Chen ’23 Aims for Gold in Beijing The Arts & Sciences alum and Big Red four-sport standout is set to compete in the women’s triathlon for Team USA By Joe Wilensky “People make fun of me,” says triathlete Taylor Knibb ’20, “because I have the same breakfast every single morning: oatmeal and yogurt.” For Knibb—a former four-sport Big Red athlete who’s headed to her second Olympics, this summer’s Games in Paris—the meal offers a bit of welcome consistency among the inevitable ups and downs of elite-level training. In 2021, Knibb was the youngest member of the U.S. women’s triathlon team that competed in the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She finished 16th individually—and was part of the mixed relay team that took home silver medals. Running cross country for the Big Red. (Patrick Shanahan / Cornell Athletics) In late July 2024, she’ll compete for gold in the City of Light. The triathlon course runs through the heart of Paris, comprising a 1,500-meter swim in the (newly cleaned up) Seine river, a 40K bike race, and a 10K run. “She has great attributes for an athlete,” says Artie Smith ’96, former head coach of Big Red women’s track and field, who recruited Knibb to the Hill and coached her for three years. “She is very invested in being successful and asks great questions, with a genuine curiosity to learn more.” She is very invested in being successful and asks great questions, with a genuine curiosity to learn more. Artie Smith ’96, former head coach of Big Red women’s track and field Knibb was already an experienced runner and triathlete when she joined the Big Red. She won the Junior World Triathlon Championship in both 2016 and 2017 (just weeks into her freshman year) and placed second at the 2017 World Triathlon Championship, becoming the youngest woman ever to podium there. Competing at her sport’s most elite levels, Knibb has developed a holistic approach to training—on the principle that a triathlon is greater than the sum of its parts. Cycling near her home in Boulder, CO. (Kenny Withrow) Stories You May Like Meet the Undergrad Who’s a 2023 World Wrestling Champ The Swim Test: A (Wet) Rite of Passage for Undergrads “If you were to look at a professional swimmer, a professional cyclist, or a professional runner, their training would look drastically different from each other,” she observes. “But I see the triathlon as one sport with three different components.” One way she and her coaches approach that: every week, she gets at least a day or two off from each of those three elements. “They are very cognizant of load management,” she says of her coaches, “and that we’re dealing with one body.” I see the triathlon as one sport with three different components. A psychology major in Arts & Sciences, Knibb competed on the cross country, swimming, and indoor and outdoor track teams. She was a first-team All-Ivy and All-Northeast Region honoree in cross country and twice competed in the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Her senior year, Knibb was cross country captain and helped the team qualify for the NCAA championships for the first time in six years. In 2021, along with her first Olympic appearance, Knibb placed first in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama, Japan; finished second in the series’ next stop in Montréal; and won the Championship Finals in Edmonton. In the pool for the tri’s first element: the swim. (Talbot Cox) She won the women's Ironman 70.3 World Championship (colloquially known as the “Half Ironman”) in 2022 and 2023; the latter year, she also finished fourth in the women's full Ironman. Now, with the goal of earning another Olympic medal, Knibb is training full time in Boulder, CO—a mecca for elite triathletes. “I sleep a lot. I eat a lot. I train a lot—and there’s not much else going on,” she says. “My days are very simple, and very enjoyable.” Top: Knibb in a World Triathlon test event in Paris in 2023. (World Triathlon / Janos Schmidt) Published April 3, 2024 Comments Elizabeth Cornell Davidge, Class of 1944 10 Apr, 2024 Taylor’s mother, Leslie Simon Knibb, Cornellian, is also a talented triathlete. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Chime In Why Being a Student Chimesmaster Put Me ‘At the Top of the World’ Quizzes & Puzzles Two Truths and a Lie: Alumni Gridiron Edition Alumni The Cornellian Behind the Slogan ‘Ithaca is Gorges’