The Brit caps off an impressive season with a maiden world crown World Triathlon Championship Final in Andalucia, Spain
Alex Yee added a world triathlon title to his individual Olympic gold medal haul.
The 26-year-old went into Andalusia (October 20) 428 points ahead of France’s Leo Berger and knew a top-six finish would be enough to secure a maiden world triathlon crown.
Yi was in a strong position going into the final event of the championship, having already recorded victories in Cagliari (May 25) and Weihai (September 27), while his Olympic gold medal, although not a regular event, contributed; the total calculation of points.
That lead gave Yi a significant advantage going into Andalucía and, although he was 21 seconds behind the leading group going into the cycle, there was little chance of him losing the world title.
Holding sixth position for the majority of the race, Yi was in touch with the leader through the bike section.
World champion on the mic
king of sports @Lixsanyee:
Reflects on the third-place performance that was enough to seal him the world
Title:
# Triathlon #Torremolinos final
pic.twitter.com/4XBkXu0F9d
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) October 20, 2024
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) October 20, 2024
When it came to running, there was no doubt that Yi, with best times of 13:26 and 27:51.94 for the 5km and 10,000m, would make up the ground.
He duly did so and finished third behind Hayden Wilde and Berger.
Yi and Berger finished with 4,069 and 3,728 points, respectively.
“It’s something that has eluded me for the last three years, so it makes it even sweeter,” said Yi, who missed out on the world titles in both 2022 and 2023 in agony.
“I’m a world champion and I couldn’t be more proud of this season. It shows that anything can happen with hard work at home. Pressure makes diamonds so I hope I showed that today.”
Hayden Wild and Alex Yee (Getty)
That means Yi is now a world and Olympic champion.
At the Olympics, the British seemed to have to settle for another individual silver. Yi gold was won by Christian Blumenfelt in Tokyo, but There was a late surge to overtake Wilde with just a few corners of the Paris circuit remaining.
After crossing the draft, Yi pumped her fist in the air and knew the gold medal was in the bag, winning by six seconds.
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