- Yee appeared out of contention heading into the last lap of the 2km run
- But he caught and surpassed New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde to secure gold
Team GB star Alex Yee secured a superb gold medal with victory in the men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics.
Yee, forced to settle for silver in Tokyo three years ago, surpassed Hayden Wilde of New Zealand in the final stages of a thrilling race to snatch a last-gasp victory.
He finished in 1hr 43min 33sec to seal Team GB’s fifth gold of the Games in the French capital.
Yee was 14 seconds down on Wilde going into the final 2km of the run but caught Wilde and surged past the New Zealander, who crossed six seconds behind the Brit.
The bronze medal went to Leo Bergere of France.
Alex Yee is the Olympic men’s triathlon champion after winning the men’s race in Paris
Yee caught New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde (left) in the final stages of a thrilling race
The Team GB star celebrates a stunning triumph as he banished his Tokyo 2020 demons
An exhausted Yee is seen at the finish line after surging past Wilde in dramatic fashion
Victory saw Yee emulate Alistair Brownlee as Britain’s second Olympic triathlon champion.
The 26-year-old won relay gold in Tokyo but had set his sights on individual glory in Paris.
And he achieved it in stunning fashion on the streets of the city. With less than a kilometre of the 10km race to go it looked as though Yee would again be left with the silver medal, although at one stage he was being challenged by Bergere.
But Yee put on the afterburners and sprinted clear as he realised his Olympic dream in one of the sport’s most memorable comebacks.
Yee looked exhausted after his triumph, with the gruelling 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run clearly taking its toll on the athletes.
The men’s race had been due to take place on Tuesday but was cancelled at only a few hours’ notice after water quality in the Seine was still deemed not up to scratch.
It was not confirmed that the races would be able to go ahead on Wednesday under the early hours, with the men pushed back to after the women’s race.
Organisers said samples taken showed ‘much lower’ levels of bacteria than the threshold for the event to take place, with the hope now that the future events in the river, the triathlon mixed relay and marathon swimming, will not face such uncertainty.
Having seen his compatriot Beth Potter take bronze, Yee dived into the Seine and managed to keep in touch with the leaders, heading through the first transition in 16th place and quickly joining a big front group for the 40 kilometre bike leg around the centre of Paris.
Wilde was in the second pack so Yee tried to help drive the pace rather than sit in, but the two groups came together with three laps to go.
The pace took its toll on one athlete in particular as Tyler Mislawchuk was seen vomiting at the finish
Wilde and Yee speak after a gruelling men’s triathlon race on the streets of Paris
The Team GB athlete couldn’t believe his triumph as he crossed the line six seconds clear
Sam Dickinson, making his Olympic debut for Britain, led the way onto the 10km run, with Yee well placed in fourth, and the Tokyo silver medallist soon surged into the lead as his team-mate called for crowd support.
Yee is a former British champion over 10,000m, and he sped off into the distance but Wilde refused to let him get away and put in a big effort to catch up.
The New Zealander was not content to sit with Yee, though, and quickly passed him, with the British athlete seemingly unable to respond as temperatures rose into the high 20s.
Yee settled into second, comfortably holding off France’s Bergere behind him, but he had a final surprise in store as he surged to a second Olympic gold having also topped the podium as part of the mixed relay in Tokyo.
More to follow.
