Francisco Javier Gómez Noya

Nick Name

: N/A

Born

:25 Mar,1983

Age

:36 years, 5 months

Location

:Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland

About Francisco Javier Gómez Noya

Francisco Javier Gómez Noya (born 25 March 1983) is a Spanish triathlete. He is the winner of four 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.

Summer Olympics:

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.

Triathlon World Championships:

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.

In 2010, Gómez was the number 1 in the World Championship Series ranking, in 2009 he was number 2, his only rivals being the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan, with whom he represents Sartrouville 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.