Marten Van Riel started competing in triathlons in 2009 and has since gone on to represent his country at the 2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, where he placed 6th, and at Tokyo 2020 finishing 4th. It was in 2017 that Marten began to produce world-class performances both in World Cup and World Series events, with victory in the Miyazaki World Cup at the end of 2017 clearly providing the confidence boost that saw him through an excellent 2018, with 5th place in WTS Leeds, 7th in WTS Hamburg and Edmonton and European Championship bronze in both the individual and Mixed Relay.

In 2019, five top-10 finishes helped the Belgian to fifth place in the overall rankings, with third place at WTS Edmonton his best of the year, before a brilliant run of podiums saw him finish second overall in the 2021 Series rankings thanks to bronze in Leeds and Montreal, silver at the Championship Finals Edmonton and that gutsy 4th place in Tokyo.

Career highlights:
- Overall second 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
- Olympic Games 4th place Tokyo 2020 + 6th place Rio 2016