Liam Donnelly

It could be said, Liam was born to run – and maybe swim and bike.

Liam grew up crazy for every sport he could get his hands on, mostly including hockey in the winters and soccer in the summers.

Like many Canadian triathletes his generation, Liam was introduced to triathlon after watching Simon Whitfield sprint for silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Without really knowing what the triathlon was and with no formal background in any of the three sports, he decided that he wanted to be a triathlete.

He has come a long way since his first race as a youngster, where he frantically tried to teach himself to swim for the 100-metre dip the night before at the hotel, admitting he was not strong in the water.

Liam slowly worked his way through the development system over the years, starting with the Ontario Provincial Development Program as a Junior. Since then, he has represented Canada at all levels of international competition, including multiple North American Championships, Pan-American Championships, and World Championships.

In 2021, Liam graduated from the Ivey Business School at Western University (HBA), where he took a special interest in social enterprise, sustainability, data analytics, and entrepreneurship. In January of 2022, he moved out west to train full-time with the senior men’s team at the National Performance Centre in Victoria where he continues to live and train towards his goals of representing Canada at major international events. Did You Know…Liam has been vegan for three years and his favourite food to experiment with is figs! His hero is Kobe Bryant and is inspired by his work ethic and never back down mentality. He loves competing in Mexico, but his favourite place is the Tongyeong World Cup.