Javier Gómez has plenty of reason to celebrate – once he gets his electrolytes back to normal…

Following a disappointing fourth place finish at the 2008 Olympic Games, the 29-year-old Spanish triathlete finally has a coveted Olympic medal in his possession.

Gómez had entered the Olympic triathlon in Beijing as the world champion and pick to take home the gold. And the gold looked to be in his grasp as he attacked for much of the final run stage on the challenging course. But Gómez ended the race just seconds behind the three eventual medalists.

This time around, the two-time world champion would not be denied a medal…

After a brutal race over 54.5 kilometers of swimming, cycling and running around central London, Gómez claimed the silver medal in the men’s triathlon at the 2012 Olympic Games. He finished between British brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee after some speed racing in and around Hyde Park. His time of 1:46:36 was a mere .11 seconds off Alistair’s winning time.

Even though Olympic gold had eluded him once again, Gómez—who has placed in the top 10 in 65 of his 70 international races—wasn’t complaining.

“Alistair showed he was the strongest today, and I was the second strongest. So it was fair,” said Gómez, who lives and trains in Switzerland. “It was a pretty quick run, especially on the first lap. I knew Jonathan Brownlee had to stop for a penalty, so I knew I just had to hang on to Alistair for as long as I could. But when you run close to 29 minutes for 10K, I couldn’t do much more today. I am pretty happy with that, I think it was my best race this year.”

So could the third time be a charm for Gómez at the 2016 Olympic Games?

“I hope I will be in Rio with a medal chance,” said Gómez. “I’ll be 33 in 2016, so hopefully I’ll still be fit and enjoying the sport.”