Skip to main content

Woman partially paralyzed from waist down shows true grit in completing triathlon

If you call Betty Merten an athlete, sheâ??ll laugh.

â??Athletes are supposed to be tall and buff,â? she says. â??Iâ??m short and plump and I use a seat to get around.â? But last Sunday Merten rolled across the finish line of the Capital View Triathlon in 3 hours and 30 minutes â?? an impressive feat given that only two years ago she had a tough time transferring from her wheelchair to the exam table.

Quoted: UW-Madison professor of kinesiology Tim Gattenby and Kara Mathys, a UW-Madison undergraduate