Athletes

A four-time Olympian, Sheila Taormina, 39, was the first women to qualify for the Olympic Games in three different sports: in the modern pentathlon (2008), in the triathlon (2000 and 2004) and in swimming (1996). At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Taormina made history after finishing 19th in the modern pentathlon. In 2007, she won silver at the World Cup in Cairo in the modern pentathlon. In 2005, less than a month after placing second in her last triathlon World Cup event, Taormina won her first pentathlon competition, the 2005 Pan Am/South American Championships. She competed in both the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney as a triathlete, where she placed 23rd and sixth, respectively. In 2004, she won the women’s International Triathlon Union World Championship. Taormina was also an Olympic gold medalist, winning her medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in swimming, as a member of the U.S. women’s 4x200m Olympic record-setting freestyle relay team. With the addition of the pentathlon, the number of Olympic disciplines she has competed in rose to seven – the triathlon consists of open-water swimming, road cycling and road running; and the pentathlon is made up of shooting, fencing, pool swimming, horse riding and cross-country running. The youngest of eight children, Taormina graduated from University of Georgia in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. A year later she earned a business administration master’s from her alma mater. When not competing, Taormina is the president of Sheila T. Inc., which provides motivational speaking and conducts swim and triathlon clinics. (9/08)