Olympic Experience

1-time Olympian; 1-time Olympic medalist (1 silver)

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, silver (Team Relay - Mixed), 6th (Olympic Distance - Men)

Career Highlights

2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships Montreal bronze medalist
2020 U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist (Mixed Relay)
2020 Olympic Games, 6th (Individual)
7-time World Triathlon Cup medalist (3 silvers, 4 bronzes)
2017 USA Triathlon Elite National Champion
2015 U23 World Championships, 4th
2015 USA Triathlon Elite National Championships silver medalist
2015 Pan American Games silver medalist
2014 FISU World University Triathlon Championships gold medalist
2010 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist
2010 Youth Olympic Games Mixed Team Relay bronze medalist
2010 ITU Junior World Championships bronze medalist
2010, 2009 USA Triathlon Junior Elite Triathlete of the Year

Personal

McDowell, 28, grew up participating in USA Triathlon’s youth and junior elite triathlon circuit as part of the Chicago-based Multisport Madness Triathlon Team. He was USA Triathlon’s Junior Athlete of the Year in 2009 and 2010 and represented Team USA at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, where he earned silver in the individual event and bronze in the Mixed Relay. He went on to win a bronze medal at the 2011 Junior World Championships. Later that year, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and took six months off to complete chemotherapy. A year later, he returned to elite competition, making his senior-level World Cup debut. He would go on to win gold at the 2014 FISU World University Triathlon Championships, and silver at the Pan American Games Toronto 2015. McDowell is now a seven-time World Cup medalist and recently celebrated 10 years cancer-free. He is also a U.S. Olympic silver medalist, earning second place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as a member of the Mixed Relay, which debuted for the first time in an Olympic Games.

Elite Triathlon Career

2022: Started the season by finished second at the 2022 Americas Triathlon Cup Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida on March 12 • Had a top-ten finish at the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama in Japan, placing 10th on May 14 • On June 11 had a DNF at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Leeds, England • Was a team member on the Mixed Relay team with Summer Rappaport, Taylor Spivey and Seth Rider and earned the bronze medal at the 2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships Montreal on June 26 • Placed 24th at the World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg on July 9 • On October 8 placed in the top-ten with 10th place at the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Cagliari, Italy • Had a DNF result at the World Triathlon Championship Series Bermuda on November 6 • Finished his year and placed 31st in Abu Dhabi, UAE at the World Triathlon Championship Finals on November 26.

2021: Placed 11th at the World Triathlon Championship Series Yokohama on May 15 • Finished 21st at the World Triathlon Cup Arzachena on May 29 • Took sixth at the World Triathlon Cup Huatulco on June 13 • Was named to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team via the USA Triathlon Games Athlete Selection Committee on June 16 • Made his debut at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in the men's individual event on July 26, placing sixth for the highest finish ever for a U.S. male triathlete at the Olympic Games • Earned a silver medal in the first-ever Triathlon Mixed Relay event at the Olympic Games, alongside U.S. teammates Katie Zaferes, Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson. McDowell and Pearson are the first U.S. men in history to medal in a triathlon event at the Olympic Games • Made it to the final stage of the debut super sprint challenge weekend at the Groupe Copley World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal but had a DNF

2020: Raced twice in the shortened 2020 season, placing 14th at the Karlovy Vary ITU Triathlon World Cup on Sept. 13, and 12th at the Arzachena World Cup on Oct. 10

2019: Earned a 4th-place finish at the Madrid ITU Triathlon World Cup, on May 5 • Finished 13th at the Chengdu ITU Triathlon World Cup, May 12 • Earned bronze at the Cagliari ITU Triathlon World Cup, on May 18 • Finished 10th at the Huatulco ITU Triathlon World Cup, on June 9 • Placed 6th at the Antwerp ITU Triathlon World Cup, on June 23 • Finished 41st at the ITU World Triathlon Montreal, on June 29 • Recorded a 32nd-place finish at the Tokyo ITU World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Event on Aug. 16

2018: Finished 10th at the ITU World Triathlon World Cup in Mooloolaba, on March 10 • Placed 7th at the New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup, on March 25 • Finished 18th at the ITU World Triathlon Series stop in Bermuda, on April 28 • Finished 44th at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama, on May 12 • Placed 13th at the Antwerp ITU Triathlon World Cup, on June 17 • Earned bronze as a member of the U.S. Mixed Relay team at the Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships, on July 15 • Placed 20th at the ITU World Triathlon Edmonton, on July 27 • Finished 44th at the Sarasota-Bradenton ITU Triathlon World Cup, on Oct.13

2017: Placed 28th at the Miyazaki ITU Triathlon World Cup on Nov. 4 • Claimed bronze at the Sarasota ITU Triathlon World Cup on Oct. 7, earning the USA Triathlon Elite National Championship title in the process • Won a silver medal at the Huelva ITU Triathlon World Cup on Sept. 23 • Took fifth at the Yucatan ITU Triathlon World Cup on Aug. 12 • Recorded a 17th-place finish at ITU World Triathlon Edmonton on July 28 • Placed 21st at ITU World Triathlon Hamburg on July 15 • Finished 14th at the Cagliari ITU Triathlon World Cup on June 4 • Placed fifth at the Madrid ITU Triathlon World Cup on May 28 • Earned a career-best 11th-place WTS finish at ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast on April 8 • Placed eighth at the New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup on April 2 • Kicked off the season with a fourth-place finish at the Mooloolaba ITU Triathlon World Cup on March 11, missing the podium by 21 seconds

2016: Earned top-10 finishes at ITU World Cups in Montreal, Quebec, on Aug. 7 (8th) and Tongyeong, South Korea, on Oct. 22 (6th) • Finished in the top 20 at ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast on April 9 (19th) and ITU World Triathlon Edmonton on Sept. 3 (18th) • Placed 39th at ITU World Triathlon Cape Town on April 23, 36th at ITU World Triathlon Yokohama on May 14 and 25th at ITU World Triathlon Hamburg on July 16

2015: Finished fourth at the Under-23 World Championship on Sept. 17 in Chicago • Finished as the second U.S. finisher and 32nd overall at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Chicago on Sept. 19, earning the silver medal in the USA Triathlon Elite National Championship held in conjunction with the Grand Final event • Captured the silver medal at the Pan American Games on July 12 on Toronto, Ontario • Missed the podium by three seconds at the June 14 Huatulco ITU World Cup, finishing fourth • Landed on the podium at the Chengdu ITU World Cup for the second straight year, finishing third • Posted a career-best 16th-place finish at ITU World Triathlon Cape Town on April 25 • Posted top-25 finishes at WTS races in Gold Coast and Yokohama

2014: Won the Brasilia FISU World University Triathlon Championships on April 20, leading the U.S. to its first team victory • Finished second at the Chengdu ITU World Cup on May 10, missing the top finishing spot by one second • Made his ITU World Triathlon Series debut on May 31 in London with a 27th-place finish • Finished ninth at the Sarasota PATCO Sprint Triathlon Pan American Championships

2013 and earlier: Fifth at the Dallas ITU Pan American Cup on June 2, 2012 • 23rd at the 2012 Edmonton ITU World Cup on July 6 • 10th at his elite debut at the 2011 Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup (last race before he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma) • Joined the Elite Triathlon Academy at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, launched in June 2011

Amateur Triathlon Career: Won the silver medal at the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, held in Singapore in 2010 • Added a Youth Olympic Games Mixed Team Relay bronze medal to his collection • Earned bronze at the 2010 ITU Junior World Championships • Fourth at the ITU Junior World Championships in 2009

World Championships Experience

Most recent: 2022 – bronze (Team Relay - Mixed), 31th (Olympic Distance - Men), 36th (Individual Ranking - Men)
Years of participation: Individual Ranking - Men 2021, 2022; Olympic Distance - Men 2022; Team Relay - Mixed 2018, 2020, 2022
Medals: 3 (1 silver, 2 bronze)

Silver – 2020 (Team Relay - Mixed)
Bronze – 2022 (Team Relay - Mixed); 2018 (Team Relay - Mixed)

Athlete Bio

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