A very solid and consistent performer, the top step of the podium continues to beckon the Spaniard. But who is Antonio Serrat Seoane and what has he achieved to date? Let's find out…
Who is Antonio Serrat Seoane?
When the two greatest triathletes your country has ever produced have won no fewer than eight world titles between them, you know you’ve got tough running shoes to fill.
But the extraordinary achievements of Javier Gómez and Mario Mola don’t seem to daunt their fellow Spaniard Antonio Serrat Seoane. If anything, it spurs him on, inspired to share a little of their limelight.
It's fair to say that Antonio has some way to go to be talked of in the same breath as these giants, though. At this stage of his career (he’s still on the sunny side of 30), he’s yet to win a race in the WTCS.
Indeed, he’s only stepped on one of its podiums on a single occasion. That said, the man from Galicia has still packed plenty of successes into his career, including two world titles (both in the mixed relay, at junior and U23/junior level), plus numerous podium appearances at European championships, World Cup and European Cup races, the Mediterranean Games and national championships.
It's just that Antonio has never really developed the winning habit that his compatriots Gómez and Mola encountered so effortlessly.
But after enjoying a heavily decorated season in 2021, anything is possible and that particular streak of fine form could well repeat – and even better – itself in 2024 while others are distracted by the prospect of passing into Olympic legend.
How old is Antonio Serrat Seoane?
Antonio Serrat Seoane was born on 24 January 1995, making him 29 years of age.
Antonio Serrat Seoane’s career highlights
June 2014: A world duathlon champ at 19
Having been a familiar face on junior podiums at national championships and World Cup races, Antonio claims his first major medals when he lines up at the duathlon world champs in Pontevedra in his home region of Galicia.
After bagging silver in the junior men’s race, gold follows 24 hours later in the junior mixed relay.
June 2014: European silver
Three weeks later, and back in triathlon competition at the European championships in Kitzbühel, Antonio earns another major medal, taking the junior men’s silver behind the Frenchman Raphael Montoya.
April 2015: First appearance on an elite podium
Competing in the autonomous Spanish city of Melilla on the North African coast, Antonio surprises many when he takes second place in a European Cup race behind Britain’s Gordon Benson.
May 2016: European Cup silver in Madrid
Home advantage continues to favour Antonio as he takes a second European Cup silver, this time in the Spanish capital behind future Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt.
September 2016: If the world crown fits…
At the ITU Grand Final in Cozumel in Mexico, the Spanish mixed U23/junior relay team, with Antonio among their number, take the world title, holding off the challenges of Britain and Australia to take a slender victory by four seconds.
September 2017: A first World Cup podium
In Weihai, in the Chinese province of Shandong, Antonio takes bronze in a World Cup event behind compatriot Uxio Abuin Ares and Mexico’s Rodrigo Gonzalez.
June 2018: Silver in Catalonia
Following a couple of form-sharpening European Cup podiums earlier in the season, Antonio takes second place at the Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, down the coast from Barcelona.
August 2020: National champs silver
After a middling 2019 season that didn’t yield a single podium appearance, and following the sport’s enforced suspension due to the pandemic, Antonio is officially the second-best sprint triathlete in Spain, taking silver at the national championships behind Fernando Alarza.
June 2021: First WTCS top 10
Antonio finally breaches a particular barrier – namely breaking into the top 10 of an WTCS race – when he finishes eighth in Leeds. In doing so, he leads home local hero Jonny Brownlee.
June 2021: Euro champs silver
If his performance in Leeds signalled a definite breakthrough, Antonio couldn’t have been prepared for what would occur 12 days later in Kitzbühel.
Here he takes silver at the European sprint champs, missing out on the golden gong by six seconds to Switzerland’s Max Studer.
August 2021: Maiden WTCS top-five finish
In Montreal, a super-sprint eliminator format of races is – to some eyes, controversially – introduced into the WTCS series.
Antonio appears not to be one of the dissenting voices, grabbing fifth place to score his best-placed finish in the series so far.
September 2021: Another WTCS top five
In Hamburg, Antonio continues his fine 2021 form by taking another WTCS fifth, this time over the sprint distance. A podium place is just three agonising seconds away.
Another fifth place is notched up in Abu Dhabi in November.
September 2021: Bronze in the Euros
In what has comfortably been Antonio’s finest season yet, he snaffles bronze at the European championships in Valencia, finishing between his compatriots Robert Sánchez Mantecón and Sergio Baxter Cabrera.
July 2022: Pontevedra podium
Climbs his first podium of the year at the Spanish World Cup race behind compatriot Sergio Baxter Cabrera.
November 2022: A maiden WTCS podium place
In the penultimate race of the WTCS season, Antonio registers his best finish yet, coming home behind Vincent Luis to take silver in Bermuda. The result helps him to seventh overall at season’s end, one place higher than 12 months earlier.
July 2023: National Champs bronze
After a difficult start on the international stage (11th in Abu Dhabi, lapped in Yokohama, 23rd Cagliari, 23rd Montreal) he performs better nationally by taking bronze in A Coruña.
Sunderland at the end of the month reaps better rewards with a ninth in the individual race and a fifth in the mixed relays.
October 2023: Ends the year with silver
At the Brasilia World Cup, Brazil, Seoane finishes a solid second.
Antonio Serrat Seoane in quotes
On winning his first-ever World Triathlon medal in Bermuda 2022: “I don’t really believe it yet, it’s been so many years trying to reach this moment. I wasn’t feeling so well on the bike and it was impossible hitting the front with the Norwegians pushing the pace, so I thought it was time to focus on my run. I just held my pace then took my moment. I couldn’t catch Vincent but now I’ll enjoy this moment and continue with the work.”
What’s next for Antonio Serrat Seoane?
With only one WTCS podium appearance to his name, plus the Spanish mixed relay squad not being as strong as those of other nations, Antonio is very much an outside bet for an Olympic medal this summer.
However, as others focus intently on Paris, he could take advantage and prosper when it comes to the WTCS series. His highest overall finish is seventh; improving on that is very much achievable, as is a possible first race victory in the series.
Top image credit: Wagner Araujo/World Triathlon
