Brianne Theisen-Eaton

Biography

Brianne Theisen-Eaton won bronze at Rio 2016 for Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in the heptathlon. Theisen-Eaton is the Canadian record holder in the heptathlon, setting the mark of 6808 points in winning the prestigious Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria in May 2015. She broke her own national record of 6641 points which she had set in Götzis in 2014. She had previously won the Hypo-Meeting in 2013 and added a third title in 2016, scoring 6765. That came after she won her first IAAF World Indoor title with a personal best score in the pentathlon in Portland, where she had been a university star. Theisen-Eaton made her Olympic debut at London 2012, where she finished 11^th. A year later she stood on the podium at the IAAF World Championships with a silver medal. She won her second straight silver in 2015, coming back from fourth place after the first day of competition. Earlier in the summer she had chosen not to compete in the heptathlon at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, instead winning bronze with the 4x400m relay and finishing fourth in the long jump. In 2014 she had captured silver in the pentathlon at the world indoor championships before winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Theisen-Eaton enjoyed an incredible collegiate career at the University of Oregon where she won three NCAA heptathlon titles, her third coming in 2012 after she had missed the 2011 season with a back injury. She also won three NCAA pentathlon titles as well as one with the 4x400m relay, making her the first Canadian woman to win seven NCAA championships.

Getting to know…

Family: Parents Calvin and Kimberly Theisen… Younger sister Jessica… Husband Ashton Eaton is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Champion and world record holder in the decathlon… Getting into the Sport: Started doing track and field at age 13 because grade 7 was the first opportunity to do after-school sports… Did her first heptathlon in grade 9… Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012… Enjoys reading, watching TV and movies, visiting friends and family, and eating junk food in the off-season… Odds and Ends: Favourite motto: “Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you, they’re there to let you know something is worth it”… She and her husband collect Christmas ornaments from their travels because one day it will be fun to set up a tree with their kids and reminisce about places they visited when they were younger… Nickname: Bri…