Joanna Zeiger

Joanna Zeiger was a triathlete who competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, just off the podium in fourth place. Zeiger attended Brown University where she was on the swim team. She competed at the 1989 Maccabiah Games, along with her sister, Laurie, and won four medals, with one gold and silver, and two bronze medals. In 2001 Zeiger was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

After Brown Zeiger received a master’s degree in genetic counseling from Northwestern University in 1995. In 2001 Zeiger earned a PhD from The Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health in genetic epidemiology.

Zeiger took up triathlon in 1992 when she started running and cycling. She won a bronze medal at the 2001 Triathlon World Championships in Olympic distance, but she later moved up in distance and won the 2008 Ironman World Championships 70.3, which is half the well-known Ironman distance.

She also competed in full Ironman events, winning the 2005 Ironman Brazil in Florianópolis, and the 2006 Ironman Idaho in Coeur d’Alene. She was also on the podium in at least three other full Ironman events, with silver medals at the 2001 Ironman USA in Lake Placid, the 2004 Ironman Canada in Penticton, British Columbia, and the 2007 Ironman Arizona in Tempe.

Zeiger later worked at the University of Colorado for 10 years in the Institute for Behavioral Genetics. She also coached triathletes and endurance athletes. She wrote a book, The Champion Mindset, that came out in 2017. In 2018 she founded and ran the Canna Research Foundation, a non-profit that studies the use of cannabis to treat medical conditions.