Javier Gómez Noya

Francisco Javier Gómez Noya (born 25 March 1983) is a Spanish triathlete. He is the winner of five ITU Triathlon World Championships, he holds three ITU Triathlon World Cup titles, and won the Silver medal for Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in men's triathlon. He has also won world titles for Ironman 70.3 and XTERRA Triathlon.

Born to Spanish immigrants (both from Galicia) in Basel, Switzerland, he returned to Spain and now lives in Pontevedra, Galicia.

Athletic career Gómez took up triathlon at the age of 15 after previously playing football and competing in swimming. However his career suffered a setback in 2000 when a routine medical test by the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) revealed an "abnormal heart valve", leading to a six-year battle between Gómez and the Spanish sporting authorities regarding his right to compete internationally. He initially won this right in November 2003, but he was not selected for the 2004 Summer Olympics and in 2005 the CSD banned him from international and domestic competition until February 2006.

In the nine years from 2002 to 2010, Gómez took part in 57 ITU competitions and achieved 54 top ten positions, among which are 23 first-place finishes. In 2003 and in 2008, Gómez was ITU Triathlon World Champion (both under-23 and Elite categories respectively in 2003). In 2007 and 2009 he was the Elite European Champion. He finished second in the World Championships in 2007 and was the runner up in 2011 ITU Sprint Distance Triathlon World Championships.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in men's triathlon Gómez was among the pre-race favourites to win. With 300 meters to go in that race, Jan Frodeno was the leader of a group made up of Gómez, Athens 2004 Silver medalist Bevan Docherty of New Zealand, and Sydney 2000 Gold medalist Simon Whitfield of Canada. Whitfield opened up the gap with a sprint with only Frodeno responding. Frodeno sprinted away with 50 meters from the finish to claim the gold medal. Simon Whitfield took the silver medal five seconds behind, and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty won the bronze medal 12 seconds back. Gómez placed 4th, 20.64 seconds behind Frodeno.

In 2010, Gómez was the number one in the World Championship Series ranking, in 2009 he was second, his only rivals being the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan, with whom he represents ECS Triathlon in the French Club Championship Series Lyonnaise des Eaux. At the 2010 ITU Triathlon World Championship final in Budapest, Gómez came second to British triathlete Alistair Brownlee, but despite the loss in the final, he won the Championship overall.

At the London Summer Olympics in 2012, Gómez took the Silver medal in men's triathlon, 11 seconds behind Gold medalist Alistair Brownlee.

In 2013, Gómez continued his success from last year winning the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon and repeating as the Hy-Vee Triathlon winner. He would then go on to win the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series, his third such title. With this world championship he joined Peter Robertson as the other triathlete with three titles to his name, and is just shy of Simon Lessing who has four world titles. Later that year Gómez competed in his first middle distance race by taking first at the Challenge Half Barcelona race. In February 2014 he raced and won his second middle distance race, Ironman 70.3 Panama.

In 2014, Gómez won his fourth ITU World Championships, winning four out of the eight possible races as well as placing third at the Grand Final, tying him for all time championships with Simon Lessing. Gómez also won the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. The next year, Gómez took his third consecutive ITU World Championship, and his fifth title overall, by finishing second at the Triathlon World Series Grand Final in Chicago.

In 2019, Gómez won his first full Ironman distance race at Ironman Malaysia with a course record of 8:18:59. He received a qualification slot to the 2020 Ironman World Championship.

Gómez retired from triathlon at the end of 2024.

Results

The following list is based upon the official ITU rankings. Unless indicated otherwise, the following events are triathlons (Olympic Distance) and refer to the Elite category.

Results list Date Competition Place Rank2002-09-07 European Cup Madrid 92003-07-20 European Cup Győr 52003-09-14 European Cup Estoril 52003-12-06 World Championships (U23) Queenstown 12004-02-28 African Cup Bloemfontein 12004-04-18 European Championships Valencia 82004-05-09 World Championships Madeira 82004-06-12 World Cup Tongyeong 42004-07-25 World Cup Salford 92004-09-19 World Cup Madrid 62005-04-24 World Cup Mazatlan DNS2006-03-03 World Cup Doha 102006-03-10 World Cup Aqaba 22006-04-23 European Cup Estoril 12006-05-07 European Cup Alexandrupoli(s) DNF2006-06-04 World Cup Madrid 12006-06-23 European Championships Autun 52006-07-23 World Cup Corner Brook 32006-09-02 World Championships Lausanne 102006-09-09 World Cup Hamburg 12006-09-24 World Cup Beijing 22006-11-05 World Cup Cancun 12007-03-25 World Cup Mooloolaba 22007-05-06 World Cup Lisbon 12007-06-03 World Cup Madrid 22007-06-17 World Cup Des Moines 32007-06-29 European Championships Copenhagen 12007-07-29 World Cup Salford 12007-08-11 World Cup Tiszaújváros 12007-08-30 World Championships Hamburg 22007-09-15 World Cup Beijing 12008-02-23 African Cup Bloemfontein 12008-03-30 World Cup Mooloolaba 12008-04-06 World Cup New Plymouth 12008-04-19 Premium European Cup Pontevedra 12008-05-10 European Championships Lisbon 72008-05-25 World Cup Madrid 12008-06-05 World Championships Vancouver 12008-07-13 World Cup Tiszaújváros 12008-08-18 Olympic Games Beijing 42009-05-17 Premium European Cup Pontevedra 22009-05-31 World Championship Series Madrid 32009-06-21 World Championship Series Washington DC 22009-06-27 Elite Cup Hy-Vee 62009-07-02 European Championships Holten 12009-07-11 World Championship Series Kitzbühel 22009-08-15 World Championship Series London DNF2009-08-22 World Championship Series Yokohama 32009-09-09 World Championship Series: Grand Final Gold Coast 22010-03-27 World Cup Mooloolaba DNS2010-05-08 World Championship Series Seoul 122010-06-05 World Championship Series Madrid 42010-06-12 Premium European Cup Pontevedra 12010-07-03 European Championships Athlone 22010-07-17 World Championship Series Hamburg 12010-07-24 World Championship Series London 12010-08-14 World Championship Series Kitzbühel 22010-09-08 World Championship Series: Grand Final Budapest 22010-10-10 World Cup Huatulco 12011-03-26 World Cup Mooloolaba 52011-04-09 World Championship Series Sydney 12011-06-04 World Championship Series Madrid 32011-06-24 European Championships Pontevedra 402011-07-16 World Championship Series Hamburg 62011-07-31 Premium European Cup Banyoles 12011-08-06 World Championship Series London 42011-08-20 World Championship Series: Sprint World Championships Lausanne 22012-04-21 European Championships Eilat 12012-08-07 Olympic Games London 22012-28-10 XTERRA World Championship Maui, Hawai 12013-10-06 Half Distance Triathlon European Championship and Challenge Half Barcelona Barcelona, Spain 1 DNF = Did not finish DNS = Did not start

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