‘The best moment ever’ – Lewisham’s Alex Yee on winning England’s first gold of Commonwealth Games

BY MAX HALL

“The best moment ever,” was how Lewisham’s Alex Yee described winning the first gold of the Commonwealth Games.

The Olympic medallist was down in fourth, 15 seconds adrift of race leader Hayden Wilde as he transitioned from bike to sprint, his strongest discipline of the three.

Rather than be daunted, the 24-year-old South Londoner said he was confident he could reel in the New Zealander, thanks to his familiarity with the Sutton Park course in Sutton Coldfield.

“Going into the run I felt good,” said Yee. “I’ve run this course hundreds of times. For me, doing that [sprint] leg just felt familiar, I guess.

“I never gave up,” said the Tokyo Olympic gold and silver medallist.

“I knew this course was difficult, it’s honest and the hill can kill you all the time so I knew that if I was able to push on up that hill, there was a chance I’d catch him,” he said of Wilde.

Having chased down the leader to sit second up the hill, and bearing down on his rival, Yee glanced up at a penalties board to see race position number one would have to serve a 10-second penalty. “I had a bit of panic,” said Yee. “I thought ‘number one, is that me?’ And then I realised it was him.”

With Yee pacing himself and breathing down the Kiwi’s neck, the pulling aside of Wilde to serve a penalty – awarded for not replacing his bike helmet correctly before starting his print – meant Yee could pause, turn and salute the crowd before breaking the tape.

Asked whether he would have been able to surpass Wilde in a straight sprint finish, Yee replied: “We’ll never know. Maybe we’ll see in a future race but I always back myself on the runs.

The athlete told the South London Press how he felt as he turned to salute the cheering crowds at the finish line.

“It was probably the best moment ever,” the former Kingsdale Foundation School pupil said. “This is special because I get to share it with so many people. It’s at home, it’s the first race of the games. This is totally unique. I don’t think there’s going to be another opportunity in my life when I’ll get to do this again so for me this is totally unforgettable.”

The Lewisham ace, who is set to compete in the mixed triathlon on Sunday afternoon, spoke to the South London Press about how difficult it can be for would-be triathletes to take up the sport, south of the river and around the world.

“I’ve seen so many people who couldn’t race, who couldn’t do triathlon because of the cost of the road bike, the cost of a wetsuit,” he said. “Those are things that make triathlon a really hard-to-access sport. I saw so many talented people fall by the wayside, that probably could have been so much better than me so I really want to improve opportunities for people from countries all over the world but also people in the UK, to be able to do triathlon.”

Yee praised the efforts being made to attract youngsters to the sport but called for more to be done, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Definitely more can be done,” he added. “With access to training venues and training facilities. So much stuff closed down after lockdown that I don’t feel like people get the same opportunities I did when I was younger. I’m definitely passionate about improving access.”

Claiming the first gong of the games wasn’t a bad start.