Sarah Groff

Athletic career

Early life True was born to parents Gerald and Jeannine Groff in Hanover, New Hampshire at Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center and raised in Cooperstown, New York. She competed in cross country, track and swimming in high school at Cooperstown High School and Deerfield Academy.

After graduating, True found it difficult to choose between swimming and running for her future athletic pursuits. After having some success in some amateur triathlon competitions she decided to pursue the sport of triathlon further.

International racing (2005–2010) True began her International Triathlon Union (ITU) racing in 2005, competing in various World Cup and Pan American Cup races. In 2007, True had her first notable finish, winning the 2007 ITU Aquathlon World Championships.

In 2009, True had three top 10 finishes in ITU racing, including 9th-place finishes in the newly revamped World Championship Series (WCS) events in Madrid and Washington, D.C. She was the 2nd ranking American woman in the WCS series. During the year she would go on to take 12th at London, 10th at Kitzbühel and 8th at Hamburg in WCS racing events. the best showing by an American triathlete in the three-year history of the series.

True competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in triathlon where she finished in fourth place, the highest American in triathlon. She finished with a time of 2:00:00, ten seconds back of the bronze medal. True also finished the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series ranked seventh in the final point standings. For her accomplishments she was named by USA Triathlon as their Olympic/ITU Athlete of the Year. The next year, she finished 9th in the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series and took second in the USA Triathlon National Championships finishing behind Jorgensen. The following weekend, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at the 2014 ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Finale, she finished in fourth place and secured second place in the overall points standings just behind fellow American Jorgensen.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics she represented the United States again in the triathlon.

Long-distance triathlon After the Olympics True focused most of her racing on non-drafting, long-distance competitions. In 2017, True won races at Ironman 70.3 Augusta and Ironman 70.3 Austin. The following year she took 2nd place at Ironman European Championship, her first Ironman competition and then another 2nd-place finish at Ironman Mont-Tremblant. At the Ironman World Championship that October True finished fourth.

After giving birth to her son in 2021, True returned to racing in 2022 by grabbing wins at Ironman Eagleman 70.3 and at Ironman Lake Placid.

Personal life Sarah is married to runner Ben True. She is the sister of writer Lauren Groff.