With top-10 finishes across the board in 2022, Olivia Mathias went from illness to Commonwealth and World Cup medallist all within one season.

At 24, Mathias has been racing triathlon for over a decade, having joined the England Talent Squad at the age of 12. But in recent years, her consistent performances have earned her a name on the world stage, including gracing the podium at the ongoing Arena Games Triathlon race series this season.  

It was less than an ideal start to the 2022 season for Mathias though, who contracted Covid in the new year, closely followed by glandular fever.

“I’m quite lucky that we have a good support system around us of coaches, physios, and doctors,” Mathias said. “I had quite a structured 10-week build back into normal training. I was also lucky that although I did have glandular fever, it was the best of a bad situation because it was a mild form of it.

“Although I couldn’t do much, I was still able to keep it ticking over a bit and gradually build up. It meant that I could still race the rest of the year.”

Despite setbacks, Mathias made an impressive comeback when she did return to racing in June, taking gold at the Europe Triathlon Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria over the intense eliminator-style format.

“I just went there to race and have fun with it, and my mum and dad came out with me,” Mathias said. “We had the semi-final the day before, then on the final day we had three races. The first one started with 30 people, then 20, then 10. I didn’t have any expectations as I didn’t have a great winter.

“I love Kitzbuhel, I’ve raced there three or four times. I had fun and didn’t put any pressure on myself, and I think it showed in my racing. Quite a lot of the Welsh guys were out there too, including the Welsh coach Luke [Watson]. So, it gave us a bit of an opportunity to practice for Commies.”

That practice paid off when the Commonwealth Games came round a month later in Birmingham. Mathias was again chosen to represent Wales, having taken sixth in the mixed relay at the Gold Coast four years earlier.

“It was amazing,” Mathias reflected. “I don’t get the opportunity to represent Wales that often. It made it pretty special that it was basically a Home Nation race for us as well. There were loads of friends and family there and I’ve not quite experienced a crowd like it before. There was just a wall of noise around the whole run course. It’s always special to represent Wales.”

After a seventh-place finish in the individual event, Mathias returned to Sutton Park with her relay team and posted the second fastest women’s time of the whole race. On what stood out for her, Mathias talked of her teammates:

“I think the standout moment was waiting on the finishing line with Iestyn [Harrett] and Dom [Coy], and just seeing Non [Stanford] come round the corner. Everyone wanted to win that medal for themselves, but knowing that it was Non’s final Commies and her final year racing, we really wanted to do it for Non.

“For her to be able to finish the relay off and run down the finishing chute was really special for us to be a part of. Non’s been such a big inspiration throughout my whole triathlon career.”

Going on to bookend the 2022 season with her first World Triathlon Cup podium in Miyazaki, Mathias said: “It was pretty special actually. To finish the season like that was amazing. It was a tough three weeks out in Asia, so to be able to finish it on the podium was definitely the icing on the cake.”

Having been part of the World Class Programme since 2018, Mathias explained what this has meant for her development in the sport: “It’s massive. Just being able to work with the support staff, physios, doctors, nutritionists, psychologists. Although it’s just us who races, there’s an army behind us who gets us to the race. It has definitely brought me on as an athlete.”

The 2023 season has already started for Mathias, who raced at the Arena Games in Sursee last month, securing second. The demanding hybrid virtual race format is quite different to the World Cup events Mathias is used to racing.

“The Arena Games is in there to break it up a bit,” Mathias said. “For me, it highlights the stuff that I’m not very good at: being by yourself on Zwift, it’s just you with your avatar on the screen. You are in a race, but you’re quite by yourself and isolated.

“That’s the thing that I find most difficult in racing. For me, it’s quite good to be exposed to that and try to improve on those areas. The next one’s in London [on 8 April], so it’ll be cool to have family and friends there for them to watch.”

(Images: Petko Beier / World Triathlon)