Alex Yee blows away competition with incredible gold in men’s Olympic triathlon race

Britain’s Alex Yee won an incredible gold medal in the men’s Olympic triathlon race after putting in an almighty burst in the final hundred metres of the run to snatch victory from Hayden Wilde (NZL)

All eyes were on the duo before the race as the two favourites, but with Wilde looking comfortable in the lead for the majority of the run, few expected Yee to win gold.

What happened next was one of the most dramatic finishes to an Olympic race we’ve ever seen…

What happened in the swim?

With the women’s race taking place earlier in the morning, the men arguably came into today’s delayed race with a slight advantage.

Despite the water quality now being below allowed pollution levels allowing the race to take part, the currents played havoc with the women’s race with a fast outward section on each of the two loops followed by extremely challenging section as athletes fought against a strong current.

Tactics played a big part in the women’s race too – with athletes trying to draft and gain a speed advantage as well as some shelter from the currents, while also navigating the best places to get out of the ferocious flow of the River Seine.

With that knowledge on board, the men lined up with Team GB big hope Alex Yee taking a good position on the pontoon under the Pont Alexandre III, thanks to his previous strong race standings. Also racing for GB was Sam Dickinson.

A total of 55 men lined in for a non-wetsuit swim. After rain earlier in the day for the women’s start skies were blue and a hot race was in the offing.

The 1,500m course was two laps: 910m and 590m. Diving in after the familiar thumping sounds and klaxon of the triathlon start, the athletes shot down the river as the strong current took them out.

Henri Schoeman (RSA) appeared to lead out on the far right of the pack, but it was all to play for as the athletes approached the first turn point.

Converging on the first orange inflatable marker and turning left an arrowhead formed as the men came together and the field spread out into the second buoy and the oncoming currents.

The difficult first lap return saw Schoeman continue to lead with Matt Hauser (AUS) on his feet as a scrimmage in the pack saw one athlete lose his swim cap and goggles and another go slightly off course.

The first lap was completed with an Australian exit, with Hauser leading. Yee was 13secs behind, with Dickinson 32secs back from the lead.

On the second lap a group of four broke away with Yee and Dickinson in the chase pack. The lead quartet was made up of Hauser, Allesio Crociani (ITA), Schoeman and Pierre Le Corre (FRA).

Exiting the second lap first was Crociani in 20:10, followed by Schoeman and Hauser. Yee exited 27secs after with Sam Dickinson 42secs off the lead.

Running up the 32 blue-carpeted steps to T1 some key athletes were some way behind, including Wilde who had over a minute to make up to the leaders, showing once again how difficult the swim was.

What happened on the bike?

A lead group of six formed on the bike and included Hauser, Le Corre, Coninx, Crociani, Schoeman and Spain’s Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, but they were quickly hunted down by a chase pack that included Yee and home hope Leo Bergere.

Further back, a chase group being led by Wilde, and including both the talented Vasco Vilaça (POR), British hope Dickinson and reigning gold medallist Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), pushed the pace, making up 30secs on the first lap alone.

By the end of the second lap, the chase group was just 26secs down on the front and were looking likely to catch the lead pack by the end of the bike leg.

The inevitable came to pass on lap four. The chase group had been gradually reeling in the leaders with every kilometre and shortly after finishing the third lap the two groups merged, forming a mega pack of some 32 athletes.

This came in a largely uneventful ride, with the dried roads and cobbles not giving the men the same issues they provided earlier in a damp women’s race.

Dickinson, reportedly under instructions from British Triathlon to act as a pilot and help Yee, took regular spells at the front, attempting to push the pace.

Though one move left many scratching their heads, with the Brit putting in a surge to gap the main group, but taking Blummenfelt with him! Fortunately, they were quickly reeled back in.

The group were together as they came into T2, with both Yee and Dickinson running out in the top four, accompanied by Jonas Schomburg (GER).

What happened on the run?

Dickinson launched Yee into first, leaving the reigning silver medallist to run clear with Schomburg. Meanwhile Dickinson, work done, peeled off to the side.

Schomburg soon dropped off, but Yee wasn’t to have it all his own way as Wilde pushed to bridge the gap.

The two ran side by side as the large chase pack, including Blummenfelt and the Frenchmen, followed behind, before Wilde made a break that Yee couldn’t match. Did the Kiwi go too early?

As the lap continued the gap grew, while behind Yee lurked more danger in Bergere and Le Corre.

By the halfway point the gap between Yee and Wilde was 15secs, while the chasers were only around 6secs behind the Brit.

Yee dug deep, halted the slide and had reduced the gap by a few seconds, but by the start of the last lap it was back up to 14secs. The gap from Yee to Bergere and Le Corre? 15secs.

As the final lap unfolded Bergere made a break away from his countryman and pushed on to try and reel in Yee for silver.

In unbelievable scenes, though, Yee hunted Wilde down in the last few hundred metres of the run to overtake him in sight of the finish line and charge down the blue carpet to lift the tape.

Wilde was unable to respond again and Yee finished in a time of 1:43:33, Wilde took silver some 6secs back and Bergere secured bronze in front of his home fans.

Men’s Paris Olympic triathlon top 10 finishers

1. Alex Yee (GBR); 1:43:33
2. Hayden Wilde (NZL); 1:43:39
3. Leo Bergere (FRA); 1:43:43
4. Pierre Le Corre (FRA); 1:43:51
5. Vasco Vilaca (POR); 1:43:56
6. Ricardo Batista (POR); 1:43:58
7. Matt Hauser (AUS); 1:44:17
8. Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP); 1:44:22
9. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN); 1:44:25
10. Miguel Hidalgo (BRA); 1:44:27