Olympic Games Triathlon results: Alex Yee snatches INCREDIBLE gold medal in Paris 2024 THRILLER

31 Jul 2024

At the Olympics in Paris, Alex Yee from Great Britain put on an impressive performance by overtaking his rival Hayden Wilde to claim the gold medal in the men's triathlon event.

The 26-year-old made a big breakthrough three years ago when they won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, coming in second place behind Kristian Blummenfelt.

However, this time he exceeded expectations with an impressive performance. It seemed like he was about to settle for second place, but instead he made a surprising push for first in the last kilometer.

But at the beginning, Wilde's legs seemed to match Yee's incredible burst of energy, completely changing the race in just a few steps.

Yee raced ahead and finished six seconds in front of a stunned Wilde, while Leo Bergere triumphed in a competition against Pierre Le Corre to claim the bronze.

Yee is inspired by the iconic Alistair Brownlee, whom he saw achieve Olympic glory at London 2012 and then successfully defend his title in Rio.

Top Swimmers Off To Mixed Start

Yee and Wilde exchanged a friendly handshake before leaping off the floating Alexandre III pontoon into the sweltering heat and humidity.

Following the delay on Tuesday, the race was officially approved to proceed at 4am local time once the water quality in the River Seine was declared safe for the athletes to swim. It was a close call, but fortunately, the weather improved and the water levels dropped to a suitable level just in time.

The men got a pleasant surprise by being able to witness the women's race, which was won by French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand. The strong currents during the swim segment caused some separation among the competitors.

Some athletes were still behind at the initial buoy during the 910-meter loop, and Australian Matt Hauser was the first to come out of the water. However, only a gap of 20 seconds separated the top 15 athletes. Among them was the predicted winner, Yee, who made a strong start and was only 13 seconds behind the leader. On the other hand, his major competitor, Wilde, was 42 seconds behind.

Current titleholder Kristian Blummenfelt from Norway also had some catching up to do, trailing by 37 points.

During the second lap, Alessio Crociani from Italy took the lead. When they finished the swim for the last time, he was three seconds ahead of Henri Schoeman from South Africa, another fast swimmer, with Hauser not far behind.

After watching Beaugrand's impressive win in the women's race, French supporters were thrilled to see Coninx and Le Corre both finish in the top 10.

Yee was slightly behind but still close at 27 seconds back, looking much stronger compared to Blummenfelt (+50s) and Wilde (+1:03). It was expected that the latter two would work together on the bike to catch up with the group. Pearson (USA) was also in contention for a medal but had more ground to cover at +1:20.

Pearson Misses Out As Bike Is Finally Back Together

Compared to the hectic bike portion of the women's race, the streets had changed significantly due to the warm weather, going from being slippery to completely dry. At first, there were six individuals leading the pack - the top three from the swim, along with French competitors Coninx and Le Corre, and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia from Spain.

However, it didn't take much time for the chasing group, including Yee and Marten van Riel (BEL), to catch up. By the end of the first 5.7km lap, the two groups had merged, increasing the total number to 19.

As predicted, Wilde, Blummenfelt, and their teammates were making every effort to catch up. Over the next few laps, the gap between them remained at around 20 seconds.

In the next group, there was another British athlete named Sam Dickinson. Meanwhile, Dylan McCullough from New Zealand fell out of the top 19, possibly in a position to assist his teammate Wilde from New Zealand in catching up.

And that's exactly what happened - by the end of the fourth lap, there was barely a gap between the two groups, and soon after they all came together with a group of 32 riders.

Due to the hot and humid weather, and with the temperatures quickly rising, it was expected that there would be a delay during the last three laps of the bike portion of the race. It's important to note that the race was initially planned to begin at 8am, but it was pushed back to 10:45am.

Luckily, there were no accidents like the ones that occurred during the women's race, which had different weather conditions.

Blummenfelt, who plans to transition to cycling in 2025, maintained a strong position at the front. However, it seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to pull away from the group. As they entered T2, it was clear that the race was still wide open for anyone to win on the run. Despite his speed, Pearson seemed to be the only contender who had fallen completely out of the running for a medal.

Exciting Race Finish!

When 32 riders arrived at T2 at the same time, it was expected to be a bit chaotic. Unfortunately, Hauser's chances were affected when he fell off his bike.

However, the run got off to an energetic start as Yee tried to establish his dominance in the race by quickly pulling ahead. His teammate Dickinson, showing great teamwork, decided to step out of the race once his part was complete, focusing instead on the upcoming Mixed Team Relay on Monday.

Just one man managed to react, and it came as no shock that it was Wilde - the highly awaited competition was officially underway with just over three laps left. As they reached the finish line after completing 2.5 kilometers, they were neck and neck - and already had a 13-second lead over the French pair of Bergere and Le Corre.

But then the situation changed dramatically when Wilde surged ahead, leaving Yee trailing behind with no response. The lead quickly increased from three seconds to nine, then 11, and finally 15 seconds by the 5km mark. The difference between them was quite noticeable - Wilde looked relaxed and in control, while Yee, typically graceful, seemed to be having a difficult time.

He pushed hard during the third lap to prevent losing time - they were 14 seconds apart when they reached the final lap - and Bergere and Le Corre were right behind him, neck and neck, trailing Yee by 16 seconds.

Wilde appeared to be unbeatable in the lead and seemed likely to claim a memorable victory, but then Yee made a dramatic sprint to the finish line that will go down in triathlon lore.

It was an amazing change, and it puts Yee in the same league as the best in the sport.