Danish triathlon star in miracle turnaround

From coma to world champion in one year

Danish triathlon athlete Camilla Pedersen completed an amazing turnaround yesterday by winning the Weihai 2014 Long Distance Triathlon World Championships a year after being in a coma following a bicycle accident.

Pedersen completed the 4km swim, 120km cycle and 20km run in a time of 5 hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds – over four minutes ahead of her nearest competitor, Kaisa Lehtonen of Finland.

“Wow, what a day, what a year,” Pedersen, 31, wrote on her Facebook page. “Today another dream came true – another goal accomplished!”

“Tomorrow will be exactly one year ago since I opened my eyes for the first time after 19 days in coma. It got celebrated today!”

READ MORE: Cerebral palsy athlete makes ironman history

Serious head injury
Pedersen was in an artificially-induced coma for nearly three weeks in September last year after a serious bicycle accident left her with a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain.

Prior to the bicycle accident, which occurred when she swerved to avoid a group of children while training, Pedersen was in the midst of a standout season, having won the Ironman European Championships in Frankfurt.  





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.