Alex Yee on 2023 highs and lows – and why the PTO’s 100K distance ‘intrigues’ him

Having ticked off his big target in 2023 by winning the Paris Test Event to book his place at next year’s Olympics, Alex Yee is focussing on more of the same between now and the Games.

The Briton, silver medallist in the individual and winner of the Mixed Team Relay at Tokyo 2020, had a near perfect-race in the French capital back in August.

He was near the front in the swim, in the lead pack on the bike over the famed Tour de France cobbles and then powered away from his rivals on the run.

‘Pretty magical’

And looking back on that – and his year as a whole – when he sat down with TRI247, Yee said: “I think going into Paris, I was very specific for what I did and really felt like I put myself in the best position to perform there in that sense.

“And hopefully I can just continue to do that in a similar fashion next year, execute very similar things. Maybe some aspects will be slightly different, but fundamentally the underlying thing is that if I stand on the start line in the best possible position I can, then hopefully that will put me in the best place.

“The Test Event didn’t quite go how I expected it to go – but that’s the law of the sport! I didn’t think it would be one big pack on the bike. But it was super powerful to just be able to experience racing around the centre of Paris, hopefully in the closest fashion to what we’re going to do next year, and look at the demands of what we think it’s going to take to race well there.

Those cobbles, as I’ve said to you before, are sacred to me so to actually be able to ride them was pretty magical.

“And, yes, having the race I did there, made it extra special and hopefully that can just set up a good preparation block now that I’ve luckily got my ticket.”

Always learning

Alex also grabbed impressive victories in Abu Dhabi and Cagliari as well as Super League London but the one big race that didn’t go to plan in 2023 was the WTCS Grand Final in Pontevedra, when he was in a fantastic position to land the overall title but found himself adrift early in the swim and was never able to get back on terms as Dorian Coninx took the glory.

Explaining that rare off day, he told us: “The law of our sport is eventually you’re going to have a bad race but I’m somebody who is quite skinny and suffers quite badly with the cold [in the water].

“So I think that’s something which I’m still managing and getting on top of – and sometimes it gets the better of me. And not to make too many excuses, but I think that definitely was a large factor of my swim, which is frustrating for me because in the pool I was probably swimming better than I had been leading into any race.

“But I was very proud of how I raced because I didn’t give up, I kept fighting all the way. But there’s definitely things I could have looked back and prepared differently for going into that race, which could have put me in a better place. I think that’s a good learning for me.

“It’s one of those things, but I think that’s what makes a triathlon so complex and exciting is that you have to be the best physically prepared you can be. And on that day that was Dorian, who was amazing and is a world champion.”

PTO a future option?

That also underlined the incredible strength in depth in men’s short-course triathlon right now – not just in Coninx’s French team, but across the board – as Yee and the other big pre-race favourite Hayden Wilde both missed out.

It’s something Yee acknowledged when he said: “Definitely. I wouldn’t say I have rivals – there I had 64 other competitors who stand on the start line and they’re going to give me a good run for my money.

“Because I’ve learned my lesson many a time that people are going to put me and Hayden in the same box. And we both appreciate each other for racing, but time on time, we’ve been beaten by other people on the day.

“So for me, I want to respect all the competition I have and just race the best race I can and focus inwardly on myself and then hopefully that should lead to the best result I can get.”

While the focus is 100% on Paris for now, Yee is a big fan of the sport as a whole so we wondered whether middle-distance could be an option in the future – and what he makes of the whole PTO Tour and IRONMAN Pro Series landscape in 2024?

And his answer was interesting: “I think the PTO definitely makes the long course more attainable and that 100K distance is actually not a million miles away from what we race currently.

“I’d say it isn’t something I have an eye on at the moment, but something which intrigues me – I definitely watch a lot of the events that are going on.

“I’d love to explore some of that other stuff, but I still feel like I have so much more to give to the sport within Paris and the short-course format and hopefully I can continue within this level of racing for a long time.

“Maybe I will look to do some slightly longer distances – but the Ironman distance might have to wait a few more years. But we’ll have to see. Who knows? I change my mind every year!”