Irish international, and former national TT champion, Joanna Patterson's sporting story is already a remarkable one. And now a funding campaign has been launched for her as she bids to undertake a pro season next year after a very interesting campaign in 2022.
A qualified doctor, she is a former international 400m runner on the track who lost most of the sight in one eye after a bad cycling crash before turning to TTs and, more recently, Ironman. Not only did she represent Ireland this year at the European Road Championships and Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games, she also excelled in Ironman at her first attempt.
But with the costs, and demands, of taking her career to the next level now set to mount, a funding campaign has been launched so she can meet those expenses and continue on her sporting journey.
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Next year she wants to ride the World Road Championships for Ireland in Scotland - in the TT - and is also aiming to become a professional athlete on the international Ironman scene. The GoFundMe campaign set up for her - 'Help Jo go Pro' - is aiming to raise £20,000 and has already brought in almost £3,500 from 50 donors in the first couple of days. The money raised will be used for:
- Building a World Championships-standard bike - her current bike has 80,000km ridden on it
- Access to professional support services - wind tunnel and laboratory testing, among others
- Help to subsidise travel, racing and training costs
- Aiding a longer focus time on training which will maximise her performance levels
Now aged 34 years, Patterson declared for Ireland a couple of years ago and won the elite TT at the National Road Championships in Co Wicklow in 2021. This year she was back to defend her title in Kanturk, where she took silver to Kelly Murphy.
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Patterson then went on to finish 19th in the Commonwealth Games TT in Wolverhampton and 17th in the Europeans TT in Munich. The Independent Pedaler Nopinz rider was also part of the pace-setting team assembled by top Ironman competitor Kat Matthews for her assault on the sub-eight Ironman effort in Germany in June. Matthews became the first woman ever to break that eight-hour marker, with Patterson one of her pacers on the bike.
Patterson then went on to compete in Ironman Italy last month, where she won her age group and finished 9th in the women's race, including the pros. She now wants to focus on her cycling and Ironman goals with more intensity next year.
Having run the 400m while in Bath University, and competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, she stepped back from athletics in 2018 after a series of injuries. She then completed her medical degree at Glasgow University and entered a triathlon for fun in 2018 while studying.
However, just as she was making progress she was involved in a serious bike accident in Spain in 2019, suffering a serious head injury and losing most of the sight in her left eye. Once she had recovered, she focused more on her TT performance on the bike, going on to become Irish champion last year and making her debut for Ireland at the Europeans in Germany this year.
If you'd like to donate and help Patterson on her way, you can do so by following this link.
