Athletics : I won the worlds then thieves stole all my worldly possessions; TRIATHLETE KERRY LANG ONHOW JOY TURNED TO HEARTACHE.

Byline: By SCOTT McDERMOTT

MOST champions of the world get a year at least. Twelve months basking in the glory, savouring the moment, lapping up the plaudits.

But Scottish triathlon star Kerry Lang got a lousy 17 days. Before she could really enjoy her moment of glory disaster struck and she hit rock bottom.

Just over a fortnight after winning a gold medal at the World Championships in New Zealand, the 27-year-old from Bearsden near Glasgow fell victim to a callous theft that left her almost pounds 20,000 out of pocket.

Lang's travelling van containing all her triathlon equipment was stolen and torched, leaving her with nothing.

A pounds 3000 racing bike, swimsuits, clothes, shoes, even Christmas presents she had bought with husband Barry, were gone.

Only her priceless gold medal and the clothes on her back had been saved and Kerry still can't hide the anguish.

She said: 'Everything we owned was taken. We were travelling around New Zealand and everything was in the van.

'Two racing bikes, my husband's surf board, his kilt and all our clothes. All I had left was an overnight bag and, most importantly, my medal.

'That was just sheer luck, I thought I had lost it. But my husband had put it in with my toothbrush and passport.

'All my equipment was taken and in total the belongings were worth pounds 20,000.

'Our tickets home had also gone and we'd even stopped in Los Angeles to get Christmas presents it was unbelievable.

'What we were most annoyed at was that they took our videotape of my race. I'll never see that footage again.'

The vehicle eventually turned up six days later turned to ashes with Kerry's valuables burnt to a cinder.

What followed was a Kiwi media circus, something Lang had never experienced. It was a traumatic couple of weeks for the new world champ and the most abnormal few weeks of her life.

She said: 'The van was taken from a street in Christchurch. I've no idea how they broke into it.

'When the police found the van my Scottish water bottle was half-burned and that was the only way we could identify the vehicle.

'I couldn't believe it I was distraught. In New Zealand everything had seemed perfect so for that to happen was like a bad dream.

'I had gone from being top of the world to rock bottom in the space of two weeks. The police over there were extremely helpful and even offered us hardship funds.

'We were on the news, my husband was in the papers and it was all over the media.

'It was built up as 'world champion loses everything' and people couldn't believe someone had stolen all our equipment.

'The insurance has only covered some things. Because the items were stolen from a motor vehicle they will only offer us pounds 750 each and our house insurance will only pay out pounds 1000.

'It's nowhere near what we've lost you wouldn't believe the amount of stuff we had in that van.

'The thieves must have thought they had found Aladdin's cave. They hit the jackpot.'

Kelly's heartbreak came just two days before Christmas and put a dampener on the festive season.

She said: 'Christmas just wasn't the same for us and it wasn't without a few tears.

'We were so angry and our emotions got the better of us. We woke up on Christmas morning with no presents to give each other. But slowly and surely we're getting backon our feet and family and friends have been kind.

'I've been offered wet suits by a company for free but I'll need to buy everything else.'

Lang's strength of character should see her through the difficult spell and the prospect of turning professional offers light at the end of the tunnel.

Full-time competition will take her all over the globe and trips to Canada and South Africa will be a far cry from her first experience of running a charity marathon in memory of her gran who died of Alzheimer's disease.

That charity slog gave super fit Kerry, already a Scotland international in the swimming pool, a taste for running.

A chance meeting with someone from Glasgow Triathlon Club prompted her to give the sport a try and three years later she is the proud world champ in the 25-29 age group.

Lang, a qualified surgeon working at Glasgow's Royal Infirmary, said: 'I swam competitively for Scotland all through my school years.

'But at university I put my sport on hold because I was studying medicine and it was difficult to do both.

'After I had run the marathon for my granny I met a friend who was in the triathlon club and decided to join.

'It's surreal to think I only started three years ago and now I'm back from New Zealand with a World Championship medal.

'Last year I began to gather momentum and realised I could go far. Even against the English girls I was winning races.

'I worked full-time until August. My colleagues were brilliant and very supportive.

'Now I'm doing shifts in accident and emergency at the Royal and that's exciting. But I'm going professional this year and will be racing in the World Cup Series in places like Canada and South Africa.

'The Scottish Triathlon Club has 600 members but so does a small local club in New Zealand that shows you how big it is in these countries.

'It's difficult in Scotland because for the cold water swims you need to be quite hardy to get into Loch Lomond. The climate isn't exactly ideal.

'But there were eight Scots in the British team and we all finished high up.'

Kerry is hoping that by dedicating all her time to the sport, she can become a regular winner throughout the triathlon season.

She was amazed by its popularity and believes Scotland could learn a lot from the attitudes to sport in New Zealand.

She said: 'The competition was fantastic and the facilities are like night and day compared to over here. Everyone is sport friendly in New Zealand, cars move over for a runner or a cyclist on the road.

'They have different attitudes and it's like another world. Scotland could learn a lot from them and we must look at ploughing more money in and getting kids involved.

'It's an exciting, enjoyable sport that keeps you fit but it doesn't get a big enough profile in Scotland.

'I never expected to do as well as I did in New Zealand. I raced in Auckland a couple of weeks before the championships and finished just a couple of seconds behind New Zealand's top woman triathlete.

'I knew then that I was the fittest I'd ever been in my life.

'I went out there four months before the event and put in a lot of work. I was getting up a 5am and swimming for two hours before breakfast. It took a lot of dedication.

'It's my ambition to become one of the world's elite triathletes and I feel I'm ready for it.'

CAPTION(S):

Wheely bad luck: Criminals; stole all Kelly's triathlon equipment