About Me

The author at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris, covering what ended up being the final singles victory of Rafael Nadal's career.

Matt Traub has over two decades of journalism experience with a track record of online innovation, having been a leader of multiple award-winning organizations.

His writing experience includes original reporting on everything from the Little League World Series to the Olympic Summer Games in Paris, developing sources around the globe. With deep knowledge of the Olympic movement, his work includes what was at stake for the Olympic Movement in Paris to hours talking with figures in Salt Lake, which led to the essential story on its path to landing the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. His work in the soccer space includes covering the 2026 FIFA World Cup from the beginning of the bid process, talking with sources on and off the record for coverage that includes recapping the day the host cities were announced to how New York/New Jersey won the right to host the final.

My Most Famous Interviews

• Michael Jordan when he re-unretired to play for the Washington Wizards
• Kobe Bryant less than two weeks after he died in a helicopter crash
• Simone Biles after she won two gold medals at the Paris Olympics
• Katie Ledecky after her opening swim at the Paris Olympics

As an editor, he has led departments that won a total of 20 national awards for excellence in print journalism, online journalism and writing in contests organized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Among the writers he has worked include Seth Emerson, Joseph Person, Christopher Kamrani and Tony Jones of The Athletic; Kent Babb of ESPN; Kyle Goon of the Baltimore Banner and Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Throughout his career has been a record of innovation. He developed a sports microsite in 1999 that focused on local high school coverage for field hockey, girls’ basketball and softball at a time where few such sites existed. At the Salt Lake Tribune, he published digital magazines on special topics including the NBA Draft, Rio Summer Olympics, 2016 College Football Season Preview and 2016 NBA Season Preview that brought in a combined quarter-million downloads.

A St. Bonaventure University graduate and former Division I tennis player, he lives in Salt Lake City with his fiancé, Johanna, a managing editor for Sports Illustrated. They have a dog named Hammie. Along with cheering on his alma mater in basketball, he is a fan of the New York Jets and Newcastle United.