Mario Mola

Indeed, it was not until he turned 15 that Mario started to get interested in running, but the transition from two sports to three was much faster. Mario was a natural from the beginning and came third in his first-ever triathlon in 2005. Just a year later his stellar progress had been recognised and he made a first appearance for the Spanish junior team.

In 2009, just four years after taking up the sport, Mario became the first man from Spain to take the Junior World Championship title and was second in the Junior World Duathlon Championship. By 2010 he was a member of the senior Spanish squad and at 22 was the youngest triathlete to race at the 2012 London Olympics where he finished fifth to really announce himself to the world.

What followed was a period of ever-increasing success and at times total dominance, on the world stage that wrote his name into the triathlon history books. After finishing eighth at the Rio Olympics, Mario was involved in one of the sport’s most dramatic moments as Jonathan Brownlee’s collapse in Cozumel allowed him to capture the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Series title.

That was the start of a golden run as Mario went on to match the achievement of compatriot Javier Gomez with a back-to-back hat-trick of ITU World titles by also collecting the honours in 2017 and 2018.

In 2019, Mario was not quite at his dominant best but still, his remarkable consistency saw him finish second behind Vincent Luis. Mario has also had the experience of Super League racing and finished seventh in Jersey in 2019.

Mario is trained by coach Joel Filliol. His partner is fellow Spanish international triathlete, Carolina Routier.