City lawyer who lost her job in the Covid pandemic and turned to running has become an Olympian

A city lawyer who lost her job during the pandemic and turned to running as an outlet is now set to compete in the Paris Olympics.

Rose Harvey, 31, will be representing Team GB for the women’s marathon event on Sunday, just four short years after being made redundant from a hedge fund. 

Before this her running consisted solely of jogging to the office in the morning, as she joked to the Times ‘no one saw me as a prodigy.’

Now, spurred on with the support of her soon-to-be husband and founder of an ice-cream company, Charlie Thuillier, who stepped down as head of Oppo to help her train, she hoping to get the gold. 

Rose Harvey, 31, will be representing Team GB for the women’s marathon event on Sunday, just four short years after being made redundant from a hedge fund

Spurred on with the support of her soon-to-be husband and founder of an ice-cream company, Charlie Thuillier, who stepped down as head of Oppo to help her train

Harvey, pictured after a training session, was working such long hours as a finance lawyer she barely had time for exercise

Harvey competed for Team GB for the first time in Oregon in 2022 and spoke of her pride at being able to represent her country

In 2020, while living in Clapham in South London, Harvey was made redundant and given three months of gardening leave, where she decided to start training for a triathlon in a bid to occupy her time. 

‘I’d gone from working all hours to literally having nothing to do, all this time at home, and I realised that work had become my entire life,’ she said.

‘It pushed me to do something quite radical, I had this awesome opportunity and wanted to do something cool with it.’

Harvey was spotted by a coach, Phil Kissi, while training in Battersea Park. Impressed by her natural skill, he took her on and began to train her – and by the time she took part in the 2021 Cheshire Marathon, Harvey had shaved a sensational 30 minutes off her personal best. 

As the world began to return to normal,  Harvey went back to work as a consultant, however her incredible running times were noticed and she landed sponsorship from Puma – allowing her to become a full-time professional athlete.

Speaking to the Times she said: ‘I was nowhere near contemplating that I could go to the next Olympics. I still kind of felt very new in the sport. It’s pretty ruthless as you’re only as good as your last race.’

Rose Harvey of Great Britain finishes in the Elite Women’s Marathon during the 2022 TCS London Marathon on October 02, 2022

Rose and her fiancé Charlie. In 2020, while living in Clapham in South London , Harvey was made redundant and given three months of gardening leave, where she decided to start training for a triathlon in a bid to occupy her time

Harvey was spotted by a coach, Phil Kissi, while training in Battersea Park. Impressed by her natural skill, he took her on and began to train her 

Rose Harvey, 31, from Clapham in South London, will compete in the Paris 2025 Olympics after beginning her running career during lockdown

She lives with her fiancé Charlie Thuillier, who is her manager and joins her on various training and competing trips around the world. 

In July Thuillier posted a clip of himself watching Rose at the Chicago Marathon last October.

He wrote: ‘What’s it like for supporters of elite athletes? Nerve wracking! I swear my heart rate is higher than Rose’s during her races.’

After the same race, at which Harvey set her PB of 2:23:21, he posted a gushing tribute to his fiancée in which he revealed his pride.

‘She utterly nailed it,’ he proclaimed.

‘I managed to see Rose 9 times around the course, hence my voice had died at the end!’

He added: ‘I can’t wait to see what Rose and the team will achieve in the next race.’

The couple plan to marry three weeks after her race on Sunday, with her family still joking that she will come down the aisle in ‘white leggings’.