He’s one of the most successful, most decorated and most consistent triathletes of all time, having won more world championships than anyone else in history. And he\u2019s not stopping any time soon.<\/p>
Who is Javier G\u00f3mez?<\/strong><\/h2>Born in the Swiss city of Basle to Spanish parents, G\u00f3mez grew up in Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain. As a child, he was a keen footballer and competitive swimmer, but changed his sporting allegiances to triathlon in his mid-teens.<\/p>
Within a couple of years, his path to world-beating glory was potentially blocked when a routine medical uncovered an abnormal heart valve, leading to concerns about his continued participation in competition and a heavily protracted battle between G\u00f3mez and Spain\u2019s sporting bodies.<\/p>
During this time, he wasn\u2019t selected to represent his country at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and, the following year, he was banned from competing both at home and abroad.<\/p>
Lesser men would have thrown in the towel, but G\u00f3mez\u2019s dedication and persistence won out. By then he\u2019d already been crowned as the world U23 champion and has since won further world titles a-plenty across a range of distances, including an unprecedented five ITU World Championships between 2008 and 2015.<\/p>
An especially fast swimmer, as well as a metronomic runner, during this time G\u00f3mez developed rivalries with many of the era\u2019s greatest triathletes, among them Germany\u2019s Jan Frodeno<\/strong><\/a>, Britain\u2019s Brownlee brothers and his compatriot Mario Mola<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>As such, he was one of the very brightest lights of this particular golden age.<\/p>
Despite his phenomenal collection of titles and medals (he also scooped three successive World Cups between 2006 and 2008, as well as the Xterra world crown in 2012), G\u00f3mez\u2019s career will always be very slightly tainted by Olympic disappointment.<\/p>
After that non-selection in 2004, he arrived in Beijing in 2008 as many people\u2019s favourite for gold, but he was outsprinted by those around him in the final few hundred metres.<\/p>
The London 2012 Games were his most successful,<\/strong><\/a> taking silver behind crowd favourite Alistair Brownlee<\/strong><\/a> who was writing his own fairy-tale.<\/p>G\u00f3mez didn\u2019t even make it to Rio in 2016<\/strong><\/a> following a bike accident in training the month before. And by the time the pandemic-hit Tokyo Games of 2020 came around, he was way past his best at the Olympic distance.<\/p>But, like many of his contemporaries, further rewards were gratefully received when he went long later in his career, including two Ironman 70.3 world titles. <\/p>
How old is Javier G\u00f3mez?<\/strong><\/h2>Javier G\u00f3mez was born on 25 March 1983, making him 40 years old.<\/p>
Javier G\u00f3mez\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>December 2003: Wins the first of many world titles<\/strong><\/h3>Despite, at 20, being among the youngest competitors, G\u00f3mez wins gold at the ITU U23 World Championship in Queenstown, on New Zealand\u2019s South Island.<\/p>
November 2006: Triumph in Canc\u00fan earns his first World Cup crown<\/strong><\/h3>After victories in Madrid and Hamburg, and a second place in Beijing during the series, G\u00f3mez travels to Mexico to be crowned World Cup champion, winning in fine style on the streets of Canc\u00fan.<\/p>
September 2007: Takes silver at the World Championship<\/strong><\/h3>G\u00f3mez makes his debut appearance on the elite podium at the world champs when he finishes four seconds behind Germany\u2019s Daniel Unger in Hamburg, having put in a pack-leading sub-30-minute run.<\/p>
June 2008: First taste of World Championship gold with Vancouver victory <\/strong><\/h3>After the disappointment of the previous September, G\u00f3mez confirms his standing as the world number one with a commanding win over New Zealand\u2019s Bevan Docherty at the last world championships held as a one-off race.<\/p>
July 2008: A hat-trick of successive World Cup crowns<\/strong><\/h3>The World Cup\/World Championship double is secured with victory in Tisza\u00fajv\u00e1ros in Hungary, following series wins in Mooloolaba, New Plymouth and Madrid.<\/p>
August 2008: Misses out on medal in debut Olympics<\/strong><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2020\/05\/Gomez_2008BeijingOlympicGames2008081820080819_6343-87d2400.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
Javier Gomez briefly leading the race at the Beijing Olympics. (Credit: Delly Carr\/ITU)<\/figcaption><\/figure>Having not been selected for the 2004 Athens Olympics due to the ongoing row over his heart condition, G\u00f3mez is the red-hot favourite for gold at the Beijing Games, but is surprisingly dropped in the closing stages by medallists Jan Frodeno, Simon Whitfield and Bevan Docherty to finish fourth.<\/p>
July 2009: Becomes European champion for the second time<\/strong><\/h3>Victory in Holten in the Netherlands gives G\u00f3mez his second European title, after victory in 2007. The silver goes to Alistair Brownlee, marking the start of a fierce rivalry at major championships between the Spaniard and the Englishman.<\/p>
They switch positions for the overall World Championship title, though, as Brownlee wins five races in the new F1-style points-accumulation format to take gold overall at the Grand Final<\/strong><\/a> in Gold Coast, in September; G\u00f3mez silver.<\/p>September 2010: A second world title comes the Spaniard\u2019s way<\/strong><\/h3>Despite being beaten by Alistair Brownlee at the Grand Final in Budapest, G\u00f3mez has done enough during the season to reclaim the crown<\/strong><\/a>, the first time he\u2019s become world champion since its reformation as a season-long series event.<\/p>September 2011: Bronze behind the Brownlees<\/strong><\/h3>Those pesky brothers get in the way of another title, as G\u00f3mez finishes the year in third: Alistair 1st: Jonny 2nd<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>August 2012: A first Olympic medal is secured \u2013 but it\u2019s not gold<\/strong><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/03\/DEL_3994-7146818.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
Silver medallist Javier Gomez congratulates winner Alistair Brownlee at the finish line of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (Credit: Delly Carr\/triathlon.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>Roared on by a raucous and partisan crowd in London, Alistair Brownlee surges to Olympic immortality with a dominant victory over G\u00f3mez. But the Spaniard, after his failure in Beijing, offers a wave of celebration on crossing the line.<\/p>
October 2012: Silver in the Series<\/strong><\/h3>Beaten by a Brownlee yet again, this time Jonny who claims the world title in Auckland <\/strong><\/a>after a sprint to the line with Gomez (which Gomez actually wins but it\u2019s not enough to win the overall series).<\/p>In the same month, an imperious swim sets up another all-conquering performance. Hawaii is the destination this time as the Xterra world title is added to an ever-lengthening palmares.<\/p>
September 2013: Title number three <\/strong><\/h3>Another year, another sprint finish in the Grand Final with Jonny Brownlee<\/strong><\/a>. This time in Hyde Park, London. In a repeat of 2012, the Spaniard takes the win\u2026 but this time he also takes the title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>August 2014: Title number four<\/strong><\/h3>Dominates the World Series so much so that a third-place finish in the Grand Final in Edmonton, Canada, is enough to take the overall title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>September 2014: Another world title \u2013 this one made of iron<\/strong><\/h3>Now in his thirties, G\u00f3mez marks his move into long-distance racing when, in Mont-Tremblant in French-speaking Canada, he proves himself to be le grand fromage<\/em>, scooping the Ironman 70.3 world title<\/strong><\/a>, a feat he will repeat in 2017. <\/strong><\/p>September 2015: A record-smashing fifth ITU world crown<\/strong><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/03\/msj_1436-5f20280.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
Javier Gomez collecting his fifth ITU world triathlon title, in Chicago, 2015. (Credit: Janos Schmidt\/ITU)<\/figcaption><\/figure>If there was any doubt that Javier G\u00f3mez wasn\u2019t among the true greats of the sport, his securing of the world title with a second place in Chicago proves it. Not only is it his third successive victory in the competition, it\u2019s his fifth in all<\/strong><\/a>, eclipsing Simon Lessing\u2019s long-held record.<\/p>July 2016: Training crash continues the Olympic hoodoo<\/strong><\/h3>With the Rio de Janeiro Olympics just a month away, a minor accident on his bike while training \u2013 resulting in a fractured arm \u2013 rules G\u00f3mez out of a third crack at Olympic glory. He\u2019s forced to watch on TV as Alistair Brownlee tops the podium for a second successive Games<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>September 2017: Ends the year with a solid silver<\/strong><\/h3>Returns to full-time racing with some impressive race performances, but it’s not enough to hold off friend and compatriot Mario Mola, who retains his world title from 2016.<\/p>
June 2018: Makes an impressive Ironman debut<\/strong><\/h3>As the current Ironman 70.3 world champion, G\u00f3mez goes double-distance for the first time<\/strong><\/a>, recording a terrific sub-eight-hour time \u2013 and second place \u2013 at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Cairns.<\/p>May 2019: The world titles now reach double digits<\/strong><\/h3>Victory at the World Triathlon Long-Distance Championships, on his home turf of Pentevedra in Galicia, makes Javier G\u00f3mez a 10-time world champion \u2013 an extraordinary feat in such a competitive sport.<\/p>
August 2019: Bronze in his final World Series year <\/strong><\/h3>The Spaniards make way for one Vincent Luis<\/strong><\/a>, who wins the overall title in the Grand Final race in Lausanne. Mola takes silver, Gomez a still incredibly impressive bronze.<\/p>October 2019: A maiden triumph at the full distance<\/strong><\/h3>Just to prove he\u2019s a man for all distances, G\u00f3mez takes his first full Ironman victory, beating the course record in Malaysia into the bargain.<\/p>
July 2021: The final stab at Olympic immortality<\/strong><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2022\/03\/tokyo2020og_075809_wags1907-72bdaf6.jpg\" "\\"\\"\/")
Javier Gomez racing his last Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Credit: Wagner Araujo\/World Triathlon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>At the age of 38, and having missed out on Rio in 2016, G\u00f3mez drops back to the shorter distance in one last, highly unlikely attempt to capture Olympic gold. He finishes 25th.<\/p>
January 2022: Wins in Chile<\/h3>
Starts the year with a 70.3 victory in Pucon, Chile\u2026 before injury rules him out for almost two years. The year does at least end on a personal high, when he becomes a dad for the first time. <\/p>
November 2023: First big race back, first win<\/h3>
Comes back in classic Gomez style with a classy victory at 70.3 Mossel Bay, South Africa. <\/p>
Javier G\u00f3mez quotes<\/strong><\/h2>On his battle against the authorities over his heart condition:<\/strong> \u201cI have overcome a lot of obstacles. Some people have helped me, others haven\u2019t. I can\u2019t forget what has happened, but I want to look forward. I don\u2019t want wars with anyone.\u201d<\/p>
As such, he was one of the very brightest lights of this particular golden age.<\/p>
Despite his phenomenal collection of titles and medals (he also scooped three successive World Cups between 2006 and 2008, as well as the Xterra world crown in 2012), G\u00f3mez\u2019s career will always be very slightly tainted by Olympic disappointment.<\/p>
After that non-selection in 2004, he arrived in Beijing in 2008 as many people\u2019s favourite for gold, but he was outsprinted by those around him in the final few hundred metres.<\/p>
The London 2012 Games were his most successful,<\/strong><\/a> taking silver behind crowd favourite Alistair Brownlee<\/strong><\/a> who was writing his own fairy-tale.<\/p> G\u00f3mez didn\u2019t even make it to Rio in 2016<\/strong><\/a> following a bike accident in training the month before. And by the time the pandemic-hit Tokyo Games of 2020 came around, he was way past his best at the Olympic distance.<\/p> But, like many of his contemporaries, further rewards were gratefully received when he went long later in his career, including two Ironman 70.3 world titles. <\/p> Javier G\u00f3mez was born on 25 March 1983, making him 40 years old.<\/p> Despite, at 20, being among the youngest competitors, G\u00f3mez wins gold at the ITU U23 World Championship in Queenstown, on New Zealand\u2019s South Island.<\/p> After victories in Madrid and Hamburg, and a second place in Beijing during the series, G\u00f3mez travels to Mexico to be crowned World Cup champion, winning in fine style on the streets of Canc\u00fan.<\/p> G\u00f3mez makes his debut appearance on the elite podium at the world champs when he finishes four seconds behind Germany\u2019s Daniel Unger in Hamburg, having put in a pack-leading sub-30-minute run.<\/p> After the disappointment of the previous September, G\u00f3mez confirms his standing as the world number one with a commanding win over New Zealand\u2019s Bevan Docherty at the last world championships held as a one-off race.<\/p> The World Cup\/World Championship double is secured with victory in Tisza\u00fajv\u00e1ros in Hungary, following series wins in Mooloolaba, New Plymouth and Madrid.<\/p> Having not been selected for the 2004 Athens Olympics due to the ongoing row over his heart condition, G\u00f3mez is the red-hot favourite for gold at the Beijing Games, but is surprisingly dropped in the closing stages by medallists Jan Frodeno, Simon Whitfield and Bevan Docherty to finish fourth.<\/p> Victory in Holten in the Netherlands gives G\u00f3mez his second European title, after victory in 2007. The silver goes to Alistair Brownlee, marking the start of a fierce rivalry at major championships between the Spaniard and the Englishman.<\/p> They switch positions for the overall World Championship title, though, as Brownlee wins five races in the new F1-style points-accumulation format to take gold overall at the Grand Final<\/strong><\/a> in Gold Coast, in September; G\u00f3mez silver.<\/p> Despite being beaten by Alistair Brownlee at the Grand Final in Budapest, G\u00f3mez has done enough during the season to reclaim the crown<\/strong><\/a>, the first time he\u2019s become world champion since its reformation as a season-long series event.<\/p> Those pesky brothers get in the way of another title, as G\u00f3mez finishes the year in third: Alistair 1st: Jonny 2nd<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p> Roared on by a raucous and partisan crowd in London, Alistair Brownlee surges to Olympic immortality with a dominant victory over G\u00f3mez. But the Spaniard, after his failure in Beijing, offers a wave of celebration on crossing the line.<\/p> Beaten by a Brownlee yet again, this time Jonny who claims the world title in Auckland <\/strong><\/a>after a sprint to the line with Gomez (which Gomez actually wins but it\u2019s not enough to win the overall series).<\/p> In the same month, an imperious swim sets up another all-conquering performance. Hawaii is the destination this time as the Xterra world title is added to an ever-lengthening palmares.<\/p> Another year, another sprint finish in the Grand Final with Jonny Brownlee<\/strong><\/a>. This time in Hyde Park, London. In a repeat of 2012, the Spaniard takes the win\u2026 but this time he also takes the title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p> Dominates the World Series so much so that a third-place finish in the Grand Final in Edmonton, Canada, is enough to take the overall title<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p> Now in his thirties, G\u00f3mez marks his move into long-distance racing when, in Mont-Tremblant in French-speaking Canada, he proves himself to be le grand fromage<\/em>, scooping the Ironman 70.3 world title<\/strong><\/a>, a feat he will repeat in 2017. <\/strong><\/p> If there was any doubt that Javier G\u00f3mez wasn\u2019t among the true greats of the sport, his securing of the world title with a second place in Chicago proves it. Not only is it his third successive victory in the competition, it\u2019s his fifth in all<\/strong><\/a>, eclipsing Simon Lessing\u2019s long-held record.<\/p> With the Rio de Janeiro Olympics just a month away, a minor accident on his bike while training \u2013 resulting in a fractured arm \u2013 rules G\u00f3mez out of a third crack at Olympic glory. He\u2019s forced to watch on TV as Alistair Brownlee tops the podium for a second successive Games<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> Returns to full-time racing with some impressive race performances, but it’s not enough to hold off friend and compatriot Mario Mola, who retains his world title from 2016.<\/p> As the current Ironman 70.3 world champion, G\u00f3mez goes double-distance for the first time<\/strong><\/a>, recording a terrific sub-eight-hour time \u2013 and second place \u2013 at the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championships in Cairns.<\/p> Victory at the World Triathlon Long-Distance Championships, on his home turf of Pentevedra in Galicia, makes Javier G\u00f3mez a 10-time world champion \u2013 an extraordinary feat in such a competitive sport.<\/p> The Spaniards make way for one Vincent Luis<\/strong><\/a>, who wins the overall title in the Grand Final race in Lausanne. Mola takes silver, Gomez a still incredibly impressive bronze.<\/p> Just to prove he\u2019s a man for all distances, G\u00f3mez takes his first full Ironman victory, beating the course record in Malaysia into the bargain.<\/p> At the age of 38, and having missed out on Rio in 2016, G\u00f3mez drops back to the shorter distance in one last, highly unlikely attempt to capture Olympic gold. He finishes 25th.<\/p> Starts the year with a 70.3 victory in Pucon, Chile\u2026 before injury rules him out for almost two years. The year does at least end on a personal high, when he becomes a dad for the first time. <\/p> Comes back in classic Gomez style with a classy victory at 70.3 Mossel Bay, South Africa. <\/p> On his battle against the authorities over his heart condition:<\/strong> \u201cI have overcome a lot of obstacles. Some people have helped me, others haven\u2019t. I can\u2019t forget what has happened, but I want to look forward. I don\u2019t want wars with anyone.\u201d<\/p>How old is Javier G\u00f3mez?<\/strong><\/h2>
Javier G\u00f3mez\u2019s career highlights<\/strong><\/h2>
December 2003: Wins the first of many world titles<\/strong><\/h3>
November 2006: Triumph in Canc\u00fan earns his first World Cup crown<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2007: Takes silver at the World Championship<\/strong><\/h3>
June 2008: First taste of World Championship gold with Vancouver victory <\/strong><\/h3>
July 2008: A hat-trick of successive World Cup crowns<\/strong><\/h3>
August 2008: Misses out on medal in debut Olympics<\/strong><\/h3>
July 2009: Becomes European champion for the second time<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2010: A second world title comes the Spaniard\u2019s way<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2011: Bronze behind the Brownlees<\/strong><\/h3>
August 2012: A first Olympic medal is secured \u2013 but it\u2019s not gold<\/strong><\/h3>
October 2012: Silver in the Series<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2013: Title number three <\/strong><\/h3>
August 2014: Title number four<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2014: Another world title \u2013 this one made of iron<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2015: A record-smashing fifth ITU world crown<\/strong><\/h3>
July 2016: Training crash continues the Olympic hoodoo<\/strong><\/h3>
September 2017: Ends the year with a solid silver<\/strong><\/h3>
June 2018: Makes an impressive Ironman debut<\/strong><\/h3>
May 2019: The world titles now reach double digits<\/strong><\/h3>
August 2019: Bronze in his final World Series year <\/strong><\/h3>
October 2019: A maiden triumph at the full distance<\/strong><\/h3>
July 2021: The final stab at Olympic immortality<\/strong><\/h3>
January 2022: Wins in Chile<\/h3>
November 2023: First big race back, first win<\/h3>
Javier G\u00f3mez quotes<\/strong><\/h2>
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