In an interview given in Spanish with La Voz de Galicia, reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion Javier Gomez announced that he will attempt to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in 2018. The Spanish athlete is one of the most accomplished athletes in the sport with multiple ITU, 70.3 and Xterra world championships to his name as well as a silver medal from the London 2012 Olympics.

Gomez says that since winning the Ironman 70.3 World Championship this year in Chattanooga, he feels he is ready to take on the long distance. He says he is looking at a June or July race for qualification — “The ideal would be between June and early July. There’s Nice and Frankfurt, there’s Cairns (Australia), which could be interesting for Hawaii due to the weather…”

A Frankfurt race would mean he’ll go head to head with Jan Frodeno, who announced last week that he will return to IM Frankfurt for the first time in a few years.

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Gomez also says in the lengthy interview that he still plans to race Ironman 70.3 races including the world championship and likely some Olympic distances, too. He also says that he “hasn’t ruled out the next Olympics” though acknowledges it wouldn’t be easy.