For an Olympic champion, stepping away from the sport that delivered gold is rarely the obvious next move. For Alex Yee, however, last year was never about leaving triathlon behind – it was about evolving within it.

After topping the podium in Paris, Yee made the unconventional decision to mostly devote a season to the marathon. He finished 14th on his debut at the London Marathon before running 2:06:38 in Valencia in December – the second-fastest marathon time ever by a British man. From the outset, though, he insists the move was part of a longer-term plan.

TRI247 sat down with him recently at the T100 launch of WTCS London as he looks forward to putting the focus back on triathlon – with a running race or two mixed in – and it was clear just how much he’s got out of the last 12 months, on all sorts of levels.

Seeing the bigger picture

He told us: “2025 was really, really fun – something a little bit lateral for me, but also very much within the context of being able to perform in triathlon in the future.”

London, he says, was about immersion rather than expectation.

“My first plan for London was just to experience the race as best I could. I knew there probably wasn’t enough time to prepare optimally, so it was about learning the distance and understanding what it was all about.”

Valencia, by contrast, was the performance test – a chance to apply those lessons under pressure.

“That was about trying to perform to the best of my ability and taking everything I’d learned into the race.”

Perhaps most importantly, the experience delivered something Yee admits he hadn’t expected after reaching the pinnacle of his sport: renewed belief.

“To feel like I’m still getting better – that was something I found really hard to believe I could do after the Olympic Games. To have that belief again has really lit a fire in me to come back into triathlon and really give it a good go.”

Renewed rivalries

That’s great news for triathlon fans – and tees up an incredible 2026 with his two biggest rivals. Aussie Matt Hauser succeeded Yee as WTCS world champion with a faultless season. And Hayden Wilde – the man Yee beat in that never-to-be-forgotten Olympic showdown in Paris – completely dominated the T100 Triathlon World Tour.

Watching triathlon from the outside last season inevitably came with mixed emotions for Alex.

“There were the odd weekends where I felt like I was missing out,” he tells us. “But at the same time, I got to race on some of the most special stages I never imagined I’d experience.”

Now, the sights are firmly locked on World Triathlon Championship Series racing, with Yee keen to re-establish himself in a sport that has continued to evolve during his brief absence.

“I’m very much focused on World Series racing – trying to understand where the sport’s evolved to and be competitive again.”

Exciting times

Yee also admits that following his own path the year after his Olympic triumph was hugely important too.

“It was about having a personal journey and not trying to follow social norms of what was expected of me,” Yee says. “For me it was about how I could improve within myself and try to find new limits. To have that emotion where I feel like I’m still getting better.”

Rather than leaving him mentally drained, the shift in focus had the opposite effect. Yee describes the process as “mentally refreshing”, a chance to step away from the familiar rhythms of World Triathlon racing and reconnect with the fundamentals of endurance performance.

“There’s a different kind of patience and restraint involved,” he says. “Learning to race over that distance taught me a lot about myself.”

That perspective now comes with him back into triathlon – a sport he believes is entering a new and exciting era.

“I think personalities within the sport are something we haven’t always seen a lot of,” Yee explains. “You don’t want racing that feels like a foregone conclusion before the start. Standing on the line knowing there are lots of athletes who could win – that’s exciting.

“My excitement is geared towards performing as well as I can over Olympic distance and seeing where that takes me.”