Marten Van Riel: Background, career highlights, quotes

Belgian athlete Marten Van Riel is one of the most consistent short-distance performers, with two top 10 Olympic Games finishes to his name. He’s also proving to be a master of the middle-distance. Here’s everything you need to know about one of Belgium’s best…

Who is Marten Van Riel?

At a young age, many future triathletes have sporting glory in their sights; they might just not realise that triathlon is the way to achieve this at the time. Not so Marten Van Riel. As a boy, he fostered ambitions to become a zookeeper.

The animals’ loss was multisport’s gain, as Van Riel progressed to become the foremost Belgian triathlete of current times.

Not that, as he climbed through the ranks, his path was littered with endless age-group titles. He was much less visible than many of his contemporaries, something of an anonymous member of the World Triathlon Series pack.

Then came the August of 2016 when Van Riel found himself, much to his own surprise, on a plane bound for Rio. And at the Olympics, he surprised a great many more people. With only two WTS top-10 finishes at that point, he came sixth in Brazil, truly announcing himself to others, including the imminent world champion Mario Mola whom he beat.

Since then, Van Riel has become one of the more dependable athletes on the circuit, overcoming his weaker swim speed with determined prowess on both the bike and the run.

Although still yet to register that first WTS race win, his consistency not only saw him finish fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, but also rewarded him with overall silver at the end of the 2021 series.

He’s already stated that Paris will be his last Olympics, which given his four 70.3 wins – and a T100 victory – from four starts hints at further glory to come.

How old is Marten Van Riel?

Marten Van Riel was born on 15 December 1992, making him 31 years of age.

Marten Van Riel’s career highlights

May 2011: A maiden climb onto the podium

On home turf, the 18-year-old Belgian lands on his first podium by taking silver in the junior European Cup race in Zwevegem.

September 2013: Capital gains in London

At the Grand Final in London, Van Riel comes 1oth in the U23 category at his first World Triathlon Series race. Twelve months later, at the Grand Final in Edmonton, he jumps up into the top five.

April 2016: A top-10 placing Down Under

In his third season as an elite athlete, Van Riel belatedly claims his first top-10 WTS finish, coming home eighth on the Gold Coast. A week later, he takes bronze in a World Cup race in Chengdu in China.

August 2016: A Rio revelation

After another top-10 WTS placing, this time in Hamburg, Van Riel surprises many (not least himself) when he takes sixth place at the Rio Olympics.

He finishes ahead of soon-to-be-crowned world champion Mario Mola and the highly rated Australian pair Aaron Royle and Ryan Bailie.

August 2017: Double European Cup glory

Van Riel’s season is largely spent in European Cup and World Cup action, with just a single WTS appearance. In the European Cup, he records back-to-back wins in Malmö and on home ground in Wuustwezel. November sees a World Cup victory in Miyazaki in Japan.

June 2018: The ascent continues in Leeds

Back into proper WTS racing, disappointing run-outs in Abu Dhabi and Bermuda are followed by something much better: his first top-five finish in the series, coming fifth in Leeds.

At the end of the month, Van Riel wins the Wuustwezel European Cup race for the second successive year.

August 2018: A first major championship podium

The Belgian takes bronze at the European Championships, forcing Alistair Brownlee out of the medals. Van Riel wins a second bronze the following day in the mixed relay.

July 2019: A WTS top three for the first time

After a series of consistent top-10 finishes on the ITU circuit, Van Riel finally makes a WTS podium for the first time, taking bronze in Edmonton after losing out to Jonny Brownlee and Mario Mola on the run.

November 2019: Awesome half-Iron debut

After a solid WTS season, Van Riel travels to the Chinese port of Xiamen to compete in his first-ever Ironman 70.3. And he does more than compete, winning at the first time of asking, having obliterated the competition on the run.

July 2021: Another commendable Olympic adventure

Having shown fine post-pandemic form by taking third in Leeds, Van Riel travels to Tokyo where he improves on his Rio Olympic experience by pipping 2016 silver medallist Jonny Brownlee to fourth.

In the mixed relay, Team Belgium finish fifth behind the Netherlands team by 2secs.

August 2021: Overall WTS silver

In the Grand Final in Edmonton, after a shorter-than-normal five-race WTS series, one of which is the Olympic event in Tokyo, Van Riel takes second place in a three-way sprint for the line involving Kristian Blummenfelt and Léo Bergere.

However, disappointment about not scooping that first WTS win (he led the race coming out of T2) is partially compensated by him finishing nine places ahead of Alex Yee, allowing him to leapfrog the Brit in the series standings and take overall silver.

March 2022: A second IM 70.3 start, a second IM 70.3 win

Although this season will be a frustrating one for Van Riel thanks to injury, one highlight is competing in his second half-Iron – IM 70.3 Dubai. And he wins again, beating the more experienced Daniel Baekkegard into second and France’s impressive Pierre Le Corre (making his middle-distance debut) into third.

His winning time of 3:26:06 is also recognised as the world’s fastest 70.3 time.

December 2023: 70.3 wins three and four

Van Riel’s 70.3 winning streak continues with victories at Fortaleza and Bahrain. The results conclude a solid if unimpressive performance on the short-course circuit – his best result being ninth in Montreal in June.

May 2024: Top 10 in Japan

A sixth place in Yokohama is a great start to the Olympic year, and he’s rewarded for his consistency with a place in the Belgium team for his third Games.

June 2024: Wins his debut T100 race

Aa another short-course athlete straddling both Olympic and 100k racing, Van Riel heads to San Francisco for the third round and edges Kiwi Kyle Smith into second place by a matter of inches in a sprint finish.

Marten Van Riel in quotes

On his favourite triathlon disciple: “For me, it’s definitely cycling that I love the most. It’s my way of discovering the world.”

On his Olympic ambitions for Paris 2024: “I want to go for it. I’ll be 31 and I have a sixth and a fourth. So I feel like this isn’t the point that I can leave short distance.”

On how seriously he’d take long-course racing once his ITU and Olympic days are done: “I definitely don’t see it as a retirement option.”

What’s next for Marten Van Riel?

After a sixth place in Rio and a fourth in Tokyo, Paris is Van Riel’s last shot at a medal, but it’s more likely to happen in the relay event with Team Belgium having already tasted a Parisien Podium at the Test Event in 2023 (note: Van Riel wasn’t part of that winning quartet).

Longer-term ambitions include the full-time move to long-course competition after Paris. And, given he’s as yet undefeated in 70.3 racing it’ll be fascinating to see how he fairs in a world champs race.

Top image credit: Dan Istitene/Getty Images