Javier Gómez Noya

Francisco Javier Gómez Noya, born on 25 March 1983 in Basel, Switzerland, to Spanish immigrants from Galicia, is a Spanish triathlete who returned to Spain and now lives in Pontevedra. He took up triathlon at the age of 15 after playing football and swimming, and his early career was interrupted when a medical test found an abnormal heart valve, which led to a long dispute with the Spanish sporting authorities over his right to compete. He is the winner of five ITU Triathlon World Championships and holds three ITU Triathlon World Cup titles. At the 2008 Summer Olympics he placed fourth, and at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London he won the silver medal in the men's triathlon, eleven seconds behind the gold medallist Alistair Brownlee. He has also won world titles in Ironman 70.3 and XTERRA Triathlon.