A RISING star in triathlon hopes that her "underdog" story will encourage more people into sport after she secured funding from her Dunfermline-based employer.

Jayne Emery, a trainee accountant with Thomson Cooper Accountants at the Carnegie Campus, is set to compete in events in Germany and England over the summer after competing in her first global competition.

The Stirling Tri Club member, who is originally from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, travelled to Romania to take part in the World Duathlon Championships, in the female 25-29 age group sprint, which was held on June 12.

Three years ago, Jayne made her first attempt to qualify in her Great Britain age group team, securing her place at the European Championships by what she described as "the skin of my teeth" by finishing fourth in the Scottish qualifier.

She went on to qualify for the World Duathlon Championships, only for the coronavirus pandemic to put a halt to competing, and has competed in a five-kilometre run, 20km cycle and another run of 2.5km in Romania.

Jayne, who has a business degree through the Open University, has always been sporty, which she says is partly due to growing up with three brothers, where "it was a case of keep up or get left out", but only made the transition into triathlon after overcoming her fear of swimming in 2018.

That led her to start training with Stirling Tri Club, and then to compete on the world stage, with the backing of her workplace.

"I am very lucky to have received sponsorship this year," Jayne said.

"I simply couldn't have done this without it. I'm very much an underdog but I hope that my story will encourage more people into sport.

"Life is too short to sit on the sofa!"

Andrew Croxford, Thomson Cooper senior partner, added: "We are delighted to be able to support Jayne in her sporting ambitions.

"We applaud her discipline and determination in juggling work, study, training and competing. This sponsorship deal compliments the ethos of our Healthy Working Lives and employee engagement initiatives."