After a phenomenal 2023 season, Frenchman Mathis Margirier looks set to claim many more middle-distance titles. But who is and what has he achieved so far? Let's take a look…
Who is Mathis Margirier?
After a comparatively short Olympic-distance career, in which he didn’t claim a significant race win, Mathis Margirier moved into middle-distance racing at the atypically young age of 24.
In the one and a half seasons since, the modest and unassuming Frenchman has quickly proved his conversion to have been an inspired decision.
He first came to attention on the Ironman 70.3 circuit in the autumn of 2022, where he won silver at the first time of asking, a success in Jesolo that was swiftly repeated at Ironman 70.3 Cascais less than a week later.
On both occasions, his lead was extinguished by off-the-pace run legs. A third Ironman 70.3 silver came the following March in Lanzarote.
Mathis’s attention then swapped to the Challenge series of races. Second place at Challenge Gran Canaria in April 2023 was quickly improved upon when he eventually converted all these silvers into gold at Challenge ‘The Championship’ Samorin.
A second gold, at Challenge Salou, confirmed him still further as a major player.
Since then, there have been fourth places at both the PTO US Open and the Ironman 70.3 world championships, along with another gold at Challenge Vieux Boucau.
In his first race of 2024, in the opening round of the new T100 Triathlon World Tour in Miami, he took an impressive bronze to kick off the new competition.
Don’t be at all surprised to see him among the overall medals at the end of the series – especially now he appears to have nailed those old snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory problems on the run.
How old is Mathis Margirier?
Mathis Margirier was born on 7 July 1997, making him 26 years of age.
Mathis Margirier’s career highlights
May 2016: A career-first podium
Mathis takes bronze in the junior men’s European Cup race in L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer on France’s Atlantic coast, where a superior run delivers him onto the podium.
He replicates his performance the following month with third in the junior men’s event at the French national championships in Montceau-les-Mines.
May 2018: First elite top-10 finish
Mathis comes home eighth at the national sprint championships, a performance which allows the 20-year-old to measure his progress against the cream of French triathlon in the form of Vincent Luis and Dorian Coninx.
October 2018: The Portuguese capital shines silver
Racing in the colours of his home club, Metz Triathlon, Mathis and his team-mates take silver in the mixed relay at the European clubs championships in Lisbon, behind compatriots Poissy Triathlon.
March 2019: Indoor European Cup top 10
In Liévin on northern France, Mathis comes seventh in a breathless indoor European Cup race, finishing 13 seconds behind the British winner, Chris Perham.
October 2019: Another European club medal
After their silver 12 months earlier, Mathis and his Metz team-mates return to the European club championships, but this time can only manage bronze, losing out to Poissy Triathlon again and to second-placed Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
July 2022: Top five going long in Alpe d’Huez
With only a single long-distance race under his belt at this point (a seventh place at Challenge Peguera Mallorca five years earlier), Mathis hints at where his future may lie when he finishes fifth in the Alpe d’Huez long-course race.
He actually leads coming out of T1, before his compatriot Léon Chevalier hands the rest of the field a masterclass on the bike, posting the fastest split by almost eight minutes to take the title.
August 2022: Another European clubs medal
Demonstrating his commitment and loyalty to his club, despite his individual ambitions, Mathis takes another bronze with his Metz mates.
September 2022: Fourth at Gérardmer XL
Mathis again shows his potential in long-course racing when he finishes just outside the medals at the Gérardmer XL event on the French/German border.
Having held a share of the lead coming into T2, a disappointing run sees him slip from medal contention.
October 2022: Back-to-back Ironman 70.3 silvers
Mathis makes his Ironman 70.3 debut in the Italian coastal resort of Jesolo and returns home with a silver medal in his carry-on luggage. Again, his run is his Achilles heel. Leading after posting the only sub-two-hour bike split, Mathis is overhauled towards the end by Italy’s Alessandro Fabian.
Six days later, at Ironman 70.3 Cascais in Portugal, another silver is his, but gold again slips through his fingers following a run leg that is notably slower than those of his chief rivals.
March 2023: A third successive 70.3 silver
Arguably Mathis’s highest profile podium finish to date comes in Lanzarote where he takes another Ironman 70.3 silver. This time, though, his run is a mere six seconds slower than that of the winner, Germany’s Justus Nieschlag.
April 2023: More silver in the Canaries
A month after Lanzarote, Mathis enjoys more success in the Canary Islands, taking second at Challenge Gran Canaria. He is beaten by his compatriot Sam Laidlow, a rival from their junior days.
May 2023: Gold at last!
The bridesmaid finally becomes the bride when Mathis takes his first career global victory at Challenge ‘The Championship’ Samorin in Slovakia.
His margin of victory over the field is a comfortable minute and a half, with the experienced likes of New Zealand’s Aaron Royle and Brit Tom Bishop among those eating his dust.
June 2023: A second helping of Challenge gold
Two weeks after Samorin, Mathis re-emphasises his immense talent at Challenge Salou in Spain, breaking the tape ahead of Britain’s David McNamee to crown a terrific all-round performance.
August 2023: Fourth at the PTO US Open
In a rare competitive appearance outside Europe, Mathis turns up for the PTO US Open in Milwaukee – and turns plenty of heads on the global stage.
It takes heavily decorated legends like Jan Frodeno and Kristian Blummenfelt to keep him off the podium, but his fourth place is a tremendous show of intent.
August 2023: Just misses out on 70.3 worlds medal
If his showing in Milwaukee caused his fellow competitors to sit up and take notice, Mathis consolidates this new standing three weeks later at the Ironman 70.3 world champs in Lahti in Finland.
There he takes another fourth place, unable to pierce the German 1-2-3 of Rico Bogen, Frederic Funk and Jan Stratmann.
October 2023: A handful of Spanish silver
Mathis reacquaints himself with the podium when he finishes second at Challenge Peguera Mallorca, six years after he last competed here in that maiden long-distance race.
Comfortably beaten by the flying Dutchman Youri Keulen, who smashes the field with a knockout run split, Mathis does at least claim third-placed former Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee among his scalps.
October 2023: A golden season-ender
Mathis says farewell to what has overwhelmingly been his finest season to date with a third win in the Challenge series, this time on the home turf of Vieux Boucau.
It’s a rare thrilling climax for a middle-distance race, with the Frenchman overpowering Mika Noodt to pip him on the line by a single second, after the German falls just a couple of yards from the tape.
March 2024: Bronze in new Florida showpiece
Mathis starts his season Stateside at the Miami T100, the opening race of the new T100 Triathlon World Tour. His bronze, behind Switzerland’s Magnus Ditlev and the American Sam Long, sets a fine marker for the months ahead.
Mathis Margirier in quotes
On his first global career victory, a 2023 win at Challenge ‘The Championship’ Samorin after innumerable silvers: “The gap was getting bigger and bigger on the run. It was quite hard on the second and third laps, but then I saw that no-one was catching me. This is so much better than second!”
On his second successive win in the Challenge series in Salou: “My body is so tired after all the racing in the past month, but I’m really happy with the race. The heat was intense and it was really hard. There were a lot of French and other spectators supporting. They pushed me more than if I was alone.”
On the prospect of riding around the Homestead-Miami Speedway racetrack as part of the inaugural Miami T100 race earlier this year, in which he went on to finish fourth: “The turns are giving me those French GP flashbacks, but this time it’s all about long-distance mode. It’s gonna be fast.”
What’s next for Mathis Margirier?
These are extremely exciting times for the Frenchman. After two exceedingly impressive seasons, his passage to the front of the middle-distance pack is beautifully timed, coinciding as it does with the launch of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, the brand-new globetrotting eight-race series.
This will be a priority for Mathis in 2024, as will getting among the medals at the Ironman 70.3 world championships. There is much more to come from this man.
Top image credit: Bartłomiej Zborowski/Activ’Images
