TRIPLE THREAT

Buoyed by his gold and silver double at Tokyo 2020, new GB triathlon star Alex Yee is hunting more glory at the Commonwealth Games this summer. He tells MF how sports science and targeted training can make you a stronger runner, cyclist and swimmer

- Alex Yee

When Alex Yee is suffering through a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run during an Olympic-distance triathlon, he battles the painful lactate torching his legs and the demons tormenting his mind by asking himself one simple but energising question: ‘What next?’

The 24-year-old won silver in the men’s triathlon and gold in the mixed relay at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year. And when he’s struggling, Yee says he asks himself, “What is the best thing I can physically be doing for myself right now?” Bringing himself back to that, he says, means he can always get more out of himself: “It gives me a ‘why’ and a purpose for what I am doing.”

The Lewisham-born athlete, who nudged ahead of his heroes-turned-teammates Ali and Jonny Brownlee in recent years, takes the same ‘What next?’ approach to his training and race targets. Having enjoyed a sensational 2021 season, supplementing his Olympic medals with his first ITU World Triathlon Series win in Leeds and the Super League Triathlon title, at time of writing Yee is now chasing more gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.

Pursuit of progress