Alex Yee may not have made the podium at BBC SPOTY on Tuesday night, but he was still a winner again after taking the sport mainstream once more.
The brilliant Olympic and World Triathlon champion provided two incredible sporting moments in a spectacular 2024, most notably of course that surge past Hayden Wilde to claim the biggest prize in the sport.
The rewards for this wonderful talent have come thick and fast since that hot July day in the French capital – notably the SJA Sportsman of the Year award and the TeamGB Moment of the Games in Paris. But it did not stop there.
READ MORE: The Alex Yee Story: Racing for chocolate, lapped out and ‘The Crash’
Alex was also shortlisted for SPOTY (Sports Personality Of The Year), the most iconic award in all of British sport, with the prize to be awarded during a glitzy ceremony broadcast live on national TV.
Yee was named on that six-athlete shortlist against a handful of other genuine superstars:
- Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson
- Darts sensation Luke Littler
- Paralympics legend Dame Sarah Storey
- England soccer star Jude Bellingham
- England cricket great Joe Root
After a glittering two-hour celebration of sport, televised live by the BBC, we finally got the results after a public vote on Tuesday evening.
BBC SPOTY Results 2024
When the results were announced by England goalkeeper Mary Earps and Olympic cycling great Sir Chris Hoy, it was Root who claimed third place, with Littler crowning his amazing year with second.
Then came the biggest prize of all, with Olympic 800m champion Hodgkinson being named BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2024.
What at year for Alex Yee
So no win for Alex Yee, but it mattered not. Being shortlisted alone crowned an astonishing year in which his brilliance on course and his qualities as a good human off it took the sport to new heights.
Like his hero Alistair Brownlee in 2016, Alex put triathlon firmly on the back pages and plenty of front ones with his incredible exploits. He is a special talent and a special person, and the sport of triathlon is lucky to have him.
What next for Yee?
There are of course four years until Alex gets to defend his Olympic triathlon title at L.A. 2028, and he has fresh challenges to take on on the meantime – starting with a recently announced London Marathon bid in April 2025.
Whatever Alex does in the coming years he will remain box office, an elite sporting talent with the ability to get everybody off their seats. What a superstar, and what a year.
