Jude Flannery

Judith "Judy" Marie Flannery ( – April 2, 1997) was an American triathlete who won six consecutive US national championships between 1991 and 1996. She died after a collision with a car while training in 1997.

Early life Flannery attended a Catholic school, and was nicknamed "Saint Judy, Our Lady of Perpetual Motion." In March 1997, Flannery was named the Master Female Triathlete of the Year; aged 57, she was the oldest women ever to receive the award. In 2008, she was posthumously inducted into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame.

Death and tributes On April 2, 1997, Flannery was on a training ride with friends when she was involved in a collision with a car. The car was being driven by an unlicensed 16-year-old, later named as Timothy Rinehart, and Flannery was hit head-on. She died later that day. Rinehart was later given a community service order.

In 1997, the USA Triathlon Women's Committee set up the Spirit of Judy Flannery Award in memory of Flannery, and in the same year, friends of Flannery rode the Race Across America under the name "Team Jude Flannery". Flannery had planned to ride the race in order to raise money for domestic violence awareness. In November 1997, Flannery's cycling partner Cary Bland, who had been injured in the collision that resulted in Flannery's death, attempted to sue the driver for $1 million.