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lex Yee is quickly earning a reputation as the smiling assassin of elite triathlon. Diminutive, cheerful, with an ear-to-ear grin, yet relentless if you’re caught between him and the podium. Tokyo 2020 was the moment he shone on the world stage, winning Olympic silver in the individual men’s race before anchoring GB’s mixed relay team to gold five days later.
The 24-year-old Londoner has since backed that up with the Super League Triathlon title, victory at the inaugural Esports Triathlon World Championships in Singapore and bagged an MBE from the Queen for good measure.
Like his famed sub-14 minute 5Ks, his ascent to the top has been rapid. “2021 was a proper amazing year for me,” a beaming Alex tells LK. “Tokyo was brilliant and obviously an unforgettable experience, but I actually feel my win in Leeds in June was just as significant.”
With Olympic qualification at stake, and in front of a bumper home crowd, Alex stormed to his first World Series race win to secure his place at the Games.
“It was the final qualification race for Tokyo, back in the city I used to live and study in, and I was competing for the Olympic slot against Alistair Brownlee who was a huge inspiration for me back in 2012,” Alex continues with pride. “I won the race and felt in control in the swim, bike and run for the first time ever, at the highest level of the sport.”
Alex is now firmly established among the top triathletes in the world, but what makes his story all the more remarkable, and inspiring, is that his career could have ended before it even began…
On the bike in his first World Cup, in Cagliari, Italy, a week before sitting his A Levels in 2017, he collided with a concrete bollard at high speed, breaking his ribs, collar bone, vertebrae and puncturing a lung. “I could have been paralysed, I was really fortunate in an unfortunate situation.”
Undeterred, within a year he had claimed the British 10,000m title in a breathtaking time of 27:51:94. That earned him a place at the European Championships before he decided to commit his full attention to triathlon – and he hasn’t looked back since.
“Each year, each race, I’m just trying to get better,” Alex says, adding that drive helps get him out of bed each morning.
I know I can compete at the highest level, I proved that last year, but I still feel I can improve in loads of areas
Sprint Finish
In Birmingham, Alex will be gunning for another double medal haul, with triathlon making its third successive appearance at the Commonwealth Games (the sport debuted at the Olympics in Sydney 2000).
The individual race will be contested over a sprint distance, comprising a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. Alex is also likely to line up in the mixed team relay for England, potentially alongside the younger Brownlee brother, Jonny, who once said of Alex: “He’s the fastest runner triathlon’s ever seen – we should be very thankful he’s British.”
He may be a smiling – lightning fast – assassin, one that’s running faster 5K times than Sir Mo Farah was at the same age, but spend a few minutes with him and it’s clear to see Alex is still running, swimming and cycling out of pure joy.
“When I was growing up in South East London, sport gave me a real sense of identity and enjoyment,” he says. “Triathlon was one of many sports I took part in but it was all about friendship and the social side.” Now, perhaps with that horror crash in Cagliari in the back of his mind, Alex is taking nothing for granted.
“I just want to be as competitive as possible, for as long as possible, at the highest level.” With that attitude, the man from Brockley will be competing at elite triathlon events for years to come.
