Heeding her late father’s advice, Zaferes has fun while earning Olympic medals

Family matters loomed prominently for Katie Zaferes as she prepared for the Tokyo Olympics.

They will continue to do so as the former parishioner of St. Bartholomew in Manchester and world-class triathlete ponders a run at a third Olympics, in Paris, in 2024. 

Zaferes is still basking in the glow of a multiple-medal performance in Tokyo, where she took bronze in the women’s triathlon July 27, and four days later helped the United States to a silver in the mixed triathlon.

All of that followed an individual world championship in 2019, before COVID-19 shut down international competitions and delayed the Tokyo Olympics a year. Zaferes is 32 and among the global standard bearers for female endurance athletes, but on the fence about the Paris Olympics for a very good reason. 

“My husband, Tommy, and I would like to start a family, but we also don’t know what that timeline looks like,” Zaferes said via email, in response to a question about her plans for Paris. “I love doing what I do, so I will continue to train and race until that needs to be re-evaluated.”

The cycle of life also figured into her delayed and just-completed Olympiad, as her father, Bill Hursey, died unexpectedly last April, at age 60.

“It was the hardest time and the most challenging thing that I have ever gone through,” said Zaferes, who lives and trains out of Cary, N.C. “My dad was the best, and such an amazing and influential part of my life. It still doesn’t seem real that he is gone. It was overwhelming and hard to balance grieving him, wanting to be with my family and continuing to train and race in the pursuit of the Olympics. 

“I knew 100 percent that he would want me to continue on this path, and that he would be with me, but it took me a bit of time to find a rhythm and just be able to breathe again after he passed away,” she continued. “I’m thankful that he loved so outwardly, so I always knew how proud he was of me (and the rest of my family), and I knew this pride wasn’t dictated by results.

“He always just wanted me to race hard, but most of all have fun,” she said. “So that’s what I did and I know he’s proud now. I just wish he could have been here to be a part of it.”

Hursey had played football and basketball at South Carroll High School in the late 1970s, and remained active. Katie was a standout runner at North Carroll High and headed to Syracuse University in 2007, when he introduced her to what became her profession. Together, they competed in the Tri to Win Triathlon at South Carroll High that Father’s Day.

“Bill’s loving this,” Father Michael Roach, their pastor at St. Bartholomew, said midway through the Olympics. “I have to believe he has a front-row seat up there.”

Zaferes’ family here on Earth, of course, were denied access to the Tokyo Olympics, which barred spectators at most venues because of COVID-19 restrictions. While some elite athletes struggled with the Olympics being delayed a year, Zaferes did not waver as her career clock ticked.

“When I learned the Olympics were postponed in 2020, I knew I was going to need to take a step back from the intensity of our preparation to make sure I had all the energy I needed a year later,” she said. “This meant spending more time with family and friends and taking the time to explore places we might want to settle down. Then in December I restarted my build-up for the 2021 season.” 

After finishing 18th in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Zaferes finished third in Tokyo in the women’s triathlon, which moves from a 1,500-meter open-water swim to a 40-kilometer (24.9 miles) bike ride to a 10-K run (6.2 miles). In the mixed triathlon, she swam 300 meters, biked 8 kilometers and ran 2K – a veritable sprint.

“Preparation for the individual (triathlon) is really conducive to preparation for the mixed team relay,” Zaferes said. “I knew if I prepared myself well for the individual I would also be good to go for the mixed team relay, which of course was something that I really wanted to be a part of.”

Only a handful of Maryland high-schoolers had broken 5 minutes for the 1,600 meters when Zaferes did so in 2007. At Syracuse, she became a steeplechaser, led the cross country team to new heights, and earned a degree in physical education. 

“I really enjoy being involved in health and fitness and could definitely see myself doing something along that realm,” Zaferes said. “I would like to use the experiences I’ve had and things I’ve learned to help others be the best version of themselves. 

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

Also see

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