Barbara Warren (athlete)

Barbara Warren (April 9, 1943 – August 26, 2008) was an Austrian-American counselor, model, actress, author, and triathlete.[1][2]

Barbara Warren
BornApril 9, 1943
St. Johann in Tirol, Austria
DiedAugust 26, 2008 (aged 65)
Santa Barbara, California
NationalityAustrian
Other namesBarbara Angely, Barbara Mueller, Barbara Müller, Barbara Muné, Barbara Alvarez
Occupation(s)Counselor, model, actress and triathlete
Known forUltra-distance athlete
Spouse(s)Tom Warren (previous husband, Armando Alvarez)
Children2 daughters

Early life and education

Born Barbara Müller in St. Johann in Tirol, Austria to Hans and Ingrid Mueller, she and her identical twin sister, Angelika Drake, left their farmhouse at 14 for high school at the Tyrolean capital of Innsbruck and then, at age 17, went on to study art history at the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze in Florence, Italy.[3]

Career

The sisters occasionally modeled before moving to Mexico City in 1965, where they began modeling full-time, eventually opening a school, agency and design boutique. Warren began performing under the stage name Barbara Angely,[4] abruptly ending that career out of dissatisfaction with a jet-set lifestyle. Warren eventually married importer Armando Alvarez, which led to a four-year separation from her sister.

Warren's family in 1980 moved to Brownsville, Texas. In 1983, Warren began running recreationally. By 1985, Drake and her family had moved to San Diego, California. Warren, with her family, followed her sister and relocated to San Diego later the same year.

Calling themselves "The Twin Team,"[5] the sisters began participating in a number of endurance sports, including their first standard triathlon in 1987 and their first Ironman Triathlon in 1988. All told, Warren completed 13 Ford Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii, winning her age group in the 2003 Ironman Kona.[6] Warren and her sister were profiled in Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women.[7]

In the early 1990s, she met triathlete Tom Warren, who won the second Ironman competition in 1979, and the two married in 1995.[3]

Warren self-published three motivational books, Unleash the Power to Complete Your Goals, Become Exceptional, and Do What You Don't Want to Do.[8]

Death

On Saturday, August 23, 2008, Warren broke her odontoid process and cervical vertebra 2 and was diagnosed as paralyzed from a bicycle crash that happened on a descent during the Santa Barbara, California, triathlon. She was put on life support at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.[9] According to an account from her family to the San Diego Union-Tribune, she communicated through blinking that she wanted her ventilator turned off, and, at the request of the family, a doctor removed her ventilator on August 26.[10]

Awards

The Santa Barbara Triathlon's Barbara Warren Community Spirit Award was named posthumously in her honor.[11]

Notes
  1. Weber, Bruce (August 29, 2008 ). Barbara Warren, Winner of Endurance Competitions, Dies at 65. The New York Times
  2. Associated Press (December 27, 2008). Sports deaths in 2008.
  3. "Triathlete honored as one of 'San Diego's 10 Cool Women'". delmartimes.com. April 14, 2010.
  4. "BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF MEXICAN FILM PERFORMERS". umd.edu.
  5. "The TwinTeam business license". Archived from the original on 2013-04-21. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  6. Barbara Warren: 2003 Women's 60-64 Age Group Champion Archived September 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Ironman.com
  7. Mattioni, Gloria (2005). Reckless: The Outrageous Lives of Nine Kick-Ass Women. Seal Press, ISBN 978-1-58005-148-4
  8. Carlson, Timothy (August 30, 2008). Endurance sports legend Barbara Warren dies after Santa Barbara bike accident. Slowtwitch.com
  9. Staff report (September 2, 2008). Obituary. The Washington Post
  10. Norcross, Don (August 28, 2008). Endurance sports lose one of legendary twins. Archived 2012-08-26 at the Wayback Machine San Diego Union-Tribune
  11. Zant, John (August 26, 2009). Sports Update: Cafarelli, Hill Receive Triathlon Award. Santa Barbara Independent
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