From Olympian to Cookbook Author

From Cambridge math to Olympic medals, PhD research to cookbook writing, Emma Pooley’s journey is anything but linear. 

What does it mean to balance excellence in sport, academia, and beyond? Few people embody that question more fully than Emma Pooley, ETH alumna, Olympic silver medalist, world-class endurance athlete, and now engineer and author.

In this piece based on a recent We Are ETH podcast, Emma Pooley shares her extraordinary path from Cambridge mathematics student to elite endurance athlete, a PhD in engineering at ETH Zurich, and authoring and publishing a cookbook – Oat and Joy. 

From Mathematics to Engineering

Emma’s academic path began in mathematics at Cambridge, but when the subject became “too abstract,” like group theory, she decided to change to engineering. That change eventually brought her to ETH for a PhD in geotechnical engineering, under the supervision of ETH Zurich Professor Sarah Springman. What was meant to be a four-year stay turned into two decades and counting.

Accidental Cycling

Emma didn’t take up cycling until her early 20s, initially as a substitute for running after an injury. It wasn’t love at first ride: 

“The human backside did not evolve to sit on a bike saddle,” she jokes. 

But supportive friends, cake stops during club rides, and the Swiss Alps soon changed everything. What began reluctantly in Cambridge transformed into an elite career in professional cycling after she moved to Switzerland.

Balance Between Science and Sport

Juggling a PhD with international competitions was never easy. Emma recalls long nights at the centrifuge lab followed by gruelling training camps and 60+ races a year. Yet her dual focus brought balance: 

“When racing didn’t go well, research was there and vice versa. It gave me perspective.”

Her supervisor’s support was crucial. Professor Springman advocated for part-time arrangements, enabling Emma to pursue both science and sport at the highest levels.

Reinvention After Retirement

After years of professional cycling, including an Olympic silver medal, Emma shifted gears again, first to triathlon and later to new challenges: co-authoring a cookbook (Oat to Joy), working in sport media, and eventually returning to engineering. Today, she applies her ETH training to real-world projects in geotechnical engineering, collaborating with colleagues, many of them fellow ETH alumni, on natural hazard and building projects.

What Do We Learn?

Emma’s story is as much about perspective as performance. She reflects:

“Most things worth doing in life are not easy. Balancing two demanding paths feels hard at times, but in the long run, it makes you stronger. You may not always be the Usain Bolt of your field, but it’s possible to be excellent in more than one thing.”

From Cambridge to Zurich, cycling tracks to centrifuges, Emma Pooley reminds us that success is not linear, it’s about the courage to adapt, the joy of learning, and the value of staying true to one’s passions.

Listen to the full podcast episode here or watch below: WE ARE ETH Podcast