World Triathlon

In the third installment of our “Looking Back on 2010” video feature series, we spotlight a familiar face – Javier Gomez – racing at home in Spain, at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series Madrid.

Javier Gomez Noya, or more affectionately - “Javi” - has something of a history with this town.  The Spaniard’s knack for success on this course has given him celebrity status here in Madrid, and although it’s not quite the paparazzi snapping his picture, there’s still plenty of media buzz when Javi races at home.

But that buzz comes with a bit of a sting, too, as myriad media requests make the hectic training schedule of an elite triathlete that much more difficult.

As Javi says, “I’m always really busy here in Madrid, there’s a lot of media, a lot of things to do with the sponsors, and you know, we are not soccer players - we need to train and rest, and sometimes that makes it a bit difficult.  But I know it’s a part of the game, and obviously we want triathlon to grow up.”

And that “growing up” is something that any talented, popular star has to contend with - career success inevitably leads straight to the media circus - which in turn, can help make plain old Javier Gomez into the man they call “Javi”.