Posted: 11:55, July 29, 2022 | Updated: 17:20, 29 July 2022
One by one, Alex Yee caught them all. Dying in the water, resurrected with his bike and a speed demon in his shoes, he broke them and then broke their spirit. By the time he was level with the last of the damned, Hayden Wilde, his great rival and close friend knew it was game over, so he could only smile and pat himself on the back as Yee passed. With it, the 24-year-old from Lewisham gave England their first gold of these Games and a reminder, if needed, that the Brownlees have their successor, here and further afield. Alex Yee hails biggest career achievement after winning men’s triathlon gold Yee was able to stand and enjoy the moment before taking the tape to Birmingham There will be some who question the value of awards on this stage, but not those who know triathlon and certainly not those who know Wilde. There are always cheaper medals at the Commonwealth Games, but the New Zealander is no easy mark – he is world No 2 and took bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. But he lost silver to Yee in Japan and was beaten to gold by him at this park just north of Birmingham. And what a race it was, marred only fractionally by Wilde’s realization at the 5km run that he would need to serve a 10-second penalty for unbuckling his helmet too early in the second transition. But even then he knew it would be academic—Yee would catch him anyway. That’s from a 15-second deficit after the 750m swim and the same after the 20km lap, timings that put Yee 16th out of the water and only fifth on the run. It’s important to realize at this stage that Wilde is a very good distance runner – his best on a track is 13:29 and he even flirted with qualifying for the track section of the Games. But Yee is a bit faster – fast enough to be an international racer in his own right and the best on the roads in his sport. And so he brought the race back to him, and then took it from them, eventually passing Wilde inside the final kilometer and collapsing to the ground after 50 minutes and 34 seconds. It was then that he declared it his greatest achievement, surpassing the Olympic silver medal and the gold he won in the team event. “These are the home games and it’s the first time I’ve been able to compete in front of my parents for a long time,” he said. “I would probably say it’s my best moment. New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde was forced to settle for silver after a 10-second penalty. The pair shared a moment of sportsmanship after the news of Wilde’s penalty “I don’t think there will be an opportunity in my life to do it again. Starting this year this was my big goal. There’s a world title up for grabs, but for me I really highlighted that.” While Wilde was officially protesting his 10-second penalty, there was no concern from Yee – even without that help he had three seconds on the Kiwi. When it was done, they hugged, which is probably fitting for what they call “Friendly Games”. “We’re great friends on and off the course, so it’s really special to share moments like this with people,” Yee said. “When we talked near the end, we said well done to each other. I said, ‘Sorry you got a penalty, man,’ because everybody wants to see a sprint finish, everybody wants to see an exciting race. But there will be many more battles along the way.’ Yee led the cycling portion of the race before roaring back on the run to claim gold Together, their rivalry is already said to be one of the most exciting in triathlon in recent years, due to the fact that it was a crash caused by Wilde earlier this year that saw one of Yee’s heroes, Jonny Brownlee, lose his Races. here with an injury. As a training partner of both Jonny and retired double gold medalist Alistair, Yee has achieved some level of revenge, not that he’s the type to see it that way. Four hours later, Georgia Taylor-Brown – who won individual silver and team gold with Yee and Jonny Brownlee in Tokyo – was again second in the women’s triathlon. The 28-year-old was tied for the lead in the swim and bike with Olympic medalist Flora Duffy of Bermuda, but withered in the run. He said: “I just didn’t have the legs today. I felt flat all day so I’m very happy with the silver. I’m getting a little tired of always coming second to Flora, so we need to change that.”
