Yee throws triathlon script in the Seine to claim gold

Triathlon 31 Jul 24

Alex Yee looked down and out in Paris only to take the script and throw it into the Seine.

Yee must have seen Tom Pidcock and Andy Murray's comebacks of recent days and thought – ‘I can raise that’.

He upgraded his Tokyo triathlon silver to gold in Paris, with a display of ruthless tactical racing genius that defied all conventional wisdom.

Oh Yee of little faith, he was right to say as he chased down New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, who seemed to have the gold in his grasp, to cross the line first on the gilded Pont Alexandre III.

The experts said this race would come down to the run; the swim and bike mere amuse bouche to the showpiece course on this showpiece course, which weaved around the postcard landmarks of Paris.

But Yee didn't have time to take in the sights though, he had the Kiwi fixed right in his.

The 26-year-old was in contention but when Wilde put on a sudden burst to open a gap on the run, he looked to have emptied his tank.

He trailed the Kiwi by over 20 seconds with 2.5km to go, with a predatory chasing pack snapping at his heels too. Hanging on to a medal of any colour looked a good result.

But Yee knows his body and he knows his opponents, not only is the attention to detail of his training programme famously forensic, he studies rivals' strengths and weaknesses for any flaw to exploit.

He and teammate Sam Dickinson had plotted this out, the latter put in a huge shift on the bike leg, working with Yee to sap the energy from his biggest medal challengers. Dickinson went to the well for his best mate and didn't finish the race but certainly shared the glory.

Dickinson insists he was never in any doubt that Yee would strike decisively and he did in the closing kilometre, hitting the accelerator to chase and pass Wilde and storm to the line, meaning Team GB have won three of the last four men's triathlon titles.

"I was going through a real bad patch and at 2.5km I thought I'm going to give myself one last chance and not give up and here we are. I'm still a bit lost for words," said Yee.

"I was just saying 'anything can happen'. I'm still just that normal guy who works hard at my sport and loves what I'm doing. For me, it's amazing that I can be in this position and I just believed it.

"I don’t even know if I thought I was going to win. For me, I wanted to cross that finish line knowing that I have given 100%.”

Yee was first to thank Dickinson, who celebrated his teammate's victory like it was his own, a loyal domestique who toiled in a cause greater than his own. "The plan was to help Alex win gold and he did, so kudos to him," said Dickinson.

"He deserves this and I'm just super proud of one of my best mate's achieving his dream, it's pretty special."

After that Yee hugged Wilde, though this was not an image of victor and vanquished, the mutual respect obvious.

“I think it's just an appreciation for each other," added Yee.

"We work day in, day out to be the best athletes we can be and when there is that one person that pushes you to those new limits, those new heights, you are just grateful.

"I have so much appreciation for him as a person, we have shared rooms together and been mates and he is a top racer. That’s the main thing, he is just a good bloke.”

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