Video: Bridie O’Donnell’s Women In Sport Presentation

Dr Bridie O’Donnell graduated as Valedictorian from the University of Queensland Medical School and won the J R S Lahz Prize for Most Outstanding Intern in Brisbane in 1999. During her residency, she was a rower and then an Ironman triathlete, and finished the Ironman Hawaii World Championships in 2006.

In 2007, she began road cycling and in 2008 after winning the National Time Trial title, she raced in the Australian National Team, and then Professional teams in Europe and the United States, representing Australia at three World Championships.

Dr O’Donnell returned to full-time work in 2013 as a behaviour change physician at Epworth HealthCheck and Epworth Breast Service, with a part-time role teaching doctor-patient communication at Deakin University Medical School.

From 2013-2016, Bridie also managed and raced for Rush Women’s Team, a National Road Series cycling team in Australia. In 2016, she became the first Australian woman to make an attempt on the UCI World Hour record in 15 years, setting a new world record of 46.882km at the Adelaide Superdrome.

In November 2017, Bridie was appointed the inaugural Head of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation by the Victorian Government and in May 2018, she published ‘Life and Death – a cycling memoir’ about her experiences as a professional cyclist in the international peloton. 

Here is Dr Bridie O’Donnell’s presentation from Ministry of Sport’s Women in Sport Summit.