Matt McElroy

Career Highlights

2022 World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong gold medalist
Nine-time World Triathlon Cup medalist (1 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze)
2021 Americas Cup Long Beach bronze medalist
2019 AJ Bell World Triathlon Leeds silver medalist
2018 ITU World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series Edmonton silver medalist
2017 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships silver medalist
2016 Clermont CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup bronze medalist
2015 ITU Duathlon U23 World Champion
2015 ITU Aquathlon World Championships bronze medalist

Personal

Matt McElroy grew up in Huntington Beach, California, gaining early experience in open water swimming by working as a lifeguard and competing in surfing. He would also frequently join group rides in his hometown, which had a thriving local cycling community. He was a competitive track and cross country runner in high school, placing second at both the California CIF Cross Country Championships and the Footlocker Cross Country National Championships in 2009. He went on to run cross country and track for Oklahoma State University his freshman year, then Northern Arizona University for the remainder of his collegiate career. At NAU, he was a three-time All-American. McElroy was recruited to become an elite triathlete through the USA Triathlon Collegiate Recruitment Program.

McElroy earned his first ITU Triathlon World Cup medal in 2016, and has remained one of the top U.S. men on the ITU circuit ever since. In June 2019, he made history by becoming the first U.S. man to medal in an ITU World Triathlon Series race since 2009 — and the second ever to do so — by winning silver in Leeds, England. That race featured one of the most competitive fields in WTS history, including the “Magnificent Seven”: multi-time world champions Javier Gomez Noya and Mario Mola of Spain; defending Olympic gold and silver medalists Alistair and Jonny Brownlee of Great Britain; WTS leader Vincent Luis of France; and South African powerhouses Henri Schoeman and Richard Murray. McElroy and Australia’s Jacob Birtwhistle, who won the race, bested all of them. In 2022 he earned his first World Triathlon Cup gold medal by winning in Tongyeong, Korea. 

Elite Triathlon Career

2022: Started the season at the World Triathlon Championship Series opener in Yokohama, Japan on May 14 and finished 13th overall • Claimed another top-20 finish on June 11 at the WTCS Leeds event in England • Competed on the Team USA Mixed Relay team with Taylor Spivey, Seth Rider and Erika Ackerlund in Leeds where they came in ninth • Placed 20th at the World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Montreal, Canada on June 25 • Finished 11th at the debut World Triathlon Cup race in Bergen, Norway where he clocked the fastest 5K run split in the race with a time of 14:35 • Earned his first podium of the season by finishing third at the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia, Spain on September 3 • Claimed the silver medal at the World Triathlon Cup in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic on September 11 • Earned a third-consecutive podium and first men's U.S. World Triathlon Cup victory of the season by winning in Tongyeong, Korea on October 15 • Finished 16th on November 6 at the World Triathlon Championship Series Bermuda • Placed 10th in Abu Dhabi, UAE at the World Triathlon Championship Series Finals to land 19th in the overall Series rankings, which was the highest for the U.S. men.

2021: Took 24th at the World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama on May 15 • Earned a top-five finish at the World Triathlon Cup Arzachena on May 29 • Took 29th at the AJ Bell World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds on June 6 • Earned bronze at the Americas Cup in Long Beach, California on July 18

2020: Placed 33rd at the Hamburg World Triathlon Championships on Sept. 5 • Took 37th at the Karlovy Vary ITU Triathlon World Cup on Sept. 13 • Finished eighth at the Arzachena ITU Triathlon world Cup on Oct. 10

2019: Finished 20th at the Daman World Triathlon Abu Dhabi on March 8• Placed 5th at the Mooloolaba ITU Triathlon World Cup on March 16 • Finished in 18th at the New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup on March 31 • Placed 32nd at the MS Amlin World Triathlon Bermuda on April 27 • Placed 30th at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama on May 18 • Won a silver medal at the AJ Bell World Triathlon Leeds, and became the first U.S. man to medal in an ITU event since 2009 on June 9 • Earned bronze at the Nur-Sultan ITU Triathlon World Cup on June 15 • Member of the U.S. Mixed Relay team and placed 9th at the Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships on July 9 • Was the top U.S. finisher in the men's race at the Tokyo ITU World Olympic Qualification Event on Aug. 16, placing 16th • Finished 28th at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Aug. 31

2018: Finished 21st at ITU World Triathlon Montreal on August 25 • Teamed up with Kirsten Kasper, Seth Rider and Taylor Spivey to claim silver at the ITU World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series stop in Edmonton on July 28 • Placed 11th at ITU World Triathlon Hamburg on July 14 • Finished 34th at ITU World Triathlon Leeds on June 10 • Placed 17th at ITU World Triathlon Yokohama on May 12 • Earned a silver medal at the Mooloolaba ITU Triathlon World Cup on March 10, and another silver at the New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup on March 25

2017: Opened his season with a silver-medal performance at the New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup on April 2 • Placed 36th in his World Triathlon Series debut in Gold Coast, Australia, on April 8 • Took 20th at ITU World Triathlon Yokohama on May 13 • Placed fifth at the Cagliari ITU Triathlon World Cup on June 4 • Earned a bronze medal at the Holten ETU Sprint Triathlon Premium European Cup on July 1 • Took 18th at ITU World Triathlon Hamburg on July 15 • Was a part of the silver-medal-winning U.S. team at the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships alongside Kirsten Kasper, Ben Kanute and Katie Zaferes on July 16 in Hamburg

2016: Earned his first elite triathlon podium with a bronze at the Clermont CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup on March 5 • Placed 21st at the Sarasota CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup on March 12 • Took seventh at the Richmond CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup on May 1 • Placed 15th in his ITU Triathlon World Cup debut in Cagliari, Italy, on May 8 • Placed 16th at the Montreal ITU Triathlon World Cup on Aug. 7 • Earned his first two career World Cup medals, both silvers, in Salinas, Ecuador on Sept. 25 and Tongyeong, South Korea, on Oct. 22 • Closed his season with a 23rd-place finish at the Miyazaki ITU Triathlon World Cup in Japan on Oct. 29

2015: Made his elite debut at the Magog CAMTRI Triathlon American Cup on July 25, placing 30th • Finished 40th at the ITU U23 World Championships in Chicago on Sept. 15 • Earned a bronze medal at the Chicago ITU Aquathlon World Championships on Sept. 16 • Took gold in the U23 field and sixth in the elite men’s field at the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, on Oct. 17

World Championship Experience

• 2017 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships silver medalist, 2015 ITU Duathlon U23 World Champion, 2015 ITU Aquathlon World Championships bronze medalist