Alex Yee came close to triathlon perfection in China on Friday – and even he was forced to admit it.
The 26-year-old Londoner has been peerless this season in short-course international combat – winning three WTCS races from three starts, and of course topping things off with that epic victory in the Olympics at Paris 2024.
Since claiming gold in Paris though, Alex admitted he’d felt mentally tired as he went straight into epic supertri combat in Boston, Chicago and London.
On Friday at WTCS Weihai though, Yee was back to his absolutely brilliant best, blitzing his rivals by a massive 46 seconds. It was a quite spectacular performance, and the beaming smile was back along with the form.
Alex Yee on WTCS Weihai wonder show
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of his victory, Alex said: “That was a triathlon for sure! For me I just wanted to come back and have fun, the last few weeks have been so chaotic, this is what I love doing. And being on that course with these guys on this course – racing hard, racing honest – I couldn’t ask for much more. I’m really pleased with that race, that was a race to be proud of.
“I think for me, this format is what I absolutely love doing. It’s what I’ve grown up inspired by – Vince (Luis), Mario (Mola), Al and Jon (Brownlee) – these guys were my inspiration growing up and I wanted to be just like them. This is what I aspire to do and I’m absolutely loving it.
“The supertri stuff has been amazing for sharpening myself up, for growing the sport and evolving our sport. But for me, this is what I’ve grown up absolutely loving and had a passion for.”
Yee now a true all-rounder
There wasn’t a moment during Friday’s race when a Yee victory looked anything other than likely. He was just eight seconds off the pace exiting the water, an integral part of the front pack on the bike and utterly devastating on the run.
Afterwards he spoke about the desire to reach triathlon perfection – to be good at everything – in particular referenced the improvement in his swim.
“It’s [the swim] been a long-term project, since I’ve been young, it’s been probably my weakest discipline. I’ve been working towards getting to that point where I can call myself a complete triathlete, and I feel like I’m getting close to that, that’s something I can be really proud of. That’s kudos to so many guys back home working hard in my corner, and all hard the work we’ve put into it.”
Now for the world (title)
Yee is now in pole position to claim his first WTCS world title in next month’s Grand Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia, but he has of course fallen at that final hurdle before. Now though, he is focusing on one very simple goal.
“This race was a standalone race by itself, Torremolinos will be a standalone race by itself, that’s how I treat them. Just loving racing, enjoying it. The hard work had been done before the Olympics to deliver the best race I could, and I’m just going to have fun in that last race, put a smile on everyone’s face and give everyone a show.”
