About Dora

I’m a 39 years old triathlete, born in Hungary, living in The Netherlands… As a child I have tried several sports, as almost everyone, swimming, handball, table tennis... I ran my first marathon in 2003 and I have been competing in triathlon since 2005.

How did I get to know to triathlon?

In the 90s internet was not a widely used thing yet so I read sport news in newspapers…Peter Kropko was an ambassador for triathlon at the time, racing and winning IM races among the pros and I read more and more about his carrier. I thought completing a full distance triathlon was something unreachable, unhuman, you can only compete at such a race if you have superb talent. 

One word: IMPOSSIBLE!

The beginning

I was running my second marathon in 2004 when I accidently met a triathlete. He told me that there was such a full triathlon distance race (not from the IRONMAN organisation) organised in Hungary every year…Well, I don't believe in accidents -the person I accidently met was a much better runner than me- so in case he was not sick that day we’d have never met. So I started to think once more about this whole IM thing... 16hrs was the limit for that race in Hungary. I was a good swimmer, I could run a marathon in 5 hrs. So I had 9.5 hrs to do the cycling - that's not impossible! I had no bike so I had to buy one (actually I bought a MTB 3 months before the race). I have not heard about nutrition plans and such “minor” things before… I was a complete newcomer there. 12 women did take part in the race at the time from the whole country -just to give a context - it was really before the hype of triathlon came later on. So my first triathlon competition was an IM distance race in Nagyatád, Hungary, at the age of 21...It describes more or less my craziness, though i’d not recommend to anyone with my current knowledge. 

I finished it with a time of 14:05. Not bad as first tri ever… Ever since it is my favourite distance (3,8K swim - 180K bike - 42,2K run).

Results

My biggest success so far is a 2nd place at the Double Ironman World Cup (2010). At the time I was the youngest ever female ultra triathlete. But times change, people change, the past years I am  not into ultra distances. In 2018 I improved my personal best on IM which is now down to 11:21. I have raced less the past years, I rather focus on quality improvements and this feels just right. I have much experience gained during the past 15+ years but you learn new things about the sport and yourself every day - that's why I find triathlon the sport of the 21st century; it is developing as fast paced as the whole world does and you have the opportunity to grow with it and challenge yourself continously.

Coaching

I am an IRONMAN certified triathlon coach since 2019, the same year when I started to work as a coach. I have established Trifharder triathlon team in 2020 which is a global community of sport enthusiasts. 

I also hold a fitness coach certification besides my university degree in sport management.. 

Besides sport

I have graduated as an Economist and Sportmanager in 2007/2008. I work as an IT Manager at Shell International in The Hague, The Netherlands. 

I also love reading. My old hobby is everything related to the Olympic Games, the “citius, altius, fortius” caught me in my childhood already. I have participated and won national titles in several sport history quiz games. Thanks to those results I had the opportunity to visit Olympia, the place of the ancient Olympic Games, and as a spectator I spent awesome weeks at the Athens and London Olympics. It was a privilege to volunteer at the 2006 Games in Torino.