Most Olympic champions spend the years after winning gold trying to recreate the athlete who reached the summit.
Alex Yee believes he has to become someone else entirely.
The Briton, who claimed Olympic gold in Paris before embarking on an ambitious marathon project and returning to triathlon this season, insists that chasing the athlete he was two years ago would actually be a mistake.
Instead, he believes success at the Los Angeles Olympics will require constant reinvention.
“I think it’s just an understanding that the Alex Yee that won in 2024 is not going to win in 2028, or the person that it took to win in 2024 is not going to take me to a win in 2028,” he explained in an exclusive interview with TRI247.
“That doesn’t mean you’re necessarily a better athlete in certain aspects. It’s about how you are as a person. It’s about how you deliver things. It’s about how you are in an environment.”
‘You don’t always learn the easy way’
It’s a fascinating insight into the mindset of one of Britain’s greatest Olympians who already has two golds, one silver and one bronze medal to his name.
Where many athletes spend years trying to rediscover the formula that brought previous success, Yee believes both the sport and the athletes within it are constantly evolving. Standing still, even after becoming Olympic champion, simply isn’t an option.
That philosophy has perhaps never been more relevant than during a season which has tested him in ways few expected.
After stepping away from triathlon to pursue marathon running, Yee returned to the World Triathlon Championship Series knowing there would be difficult days.
Those have come sooner and more frequently than he might have hoped, with DNFs in his last two WTCS races at first Alghero and then Quiberon.
Yet rather than seeing those experiences as setbacks, he views them as essential parts of a much longer journey.
“For me it’s that constant fact-finding mission which is exciting me and getting me out of bed every day,” he told us.
“You don’t always learn the easy way.
“You don’t always learn through instant gratification and I’m well aware of that.”
Always aiming for improvement
That willingness to embrace discomfort has become one of the defining themes of Yee’s career.
His decision to step away from triathlon and immerse himself in marathon running surprised many at the time, but it was another example of an athlete deliberately searching for growth rather than familiarity.
The next example will come at the Monaco Diamond League in early July when he will race the 5,000 metres on the track, admitting: “Out of my depth – but that’s where I love to be!”
Then he’ll be back racing against the world’s best triathletes on home roads at WTCS London in what should be some showdown against the likes of Hayden Wilde, Matt Hauser and this season’s WTCS sensation Vasco Vilaca.
