Yee wins silver in outstanding triathlon performance

SportUniversity

Team GB’s Alex Yee claimed a stunning silver in a gruelling triathlon in Tokyo to add to Loughborough’s growing total of medals.

Taking place in soaring temperatures and high humidity, the 23-year-old Loughborough-based athlete led for much of the 10km run before eventual gold medallist Kristian Blummenfelt (Norway) pulled away.

Making his Olympic debut in Japan, Yee looked in fine fettle throughout despite the Olympic final being just the eighth race he has competed in at this level.

The race started at 06:30am local time to avoid the worst of the heat and humidity but had to be restarted as a boat bizarrely blocked about half of the athletes from leaving the pontoon.  

“[It's] amazing to feel I’ve fulfilled that dream," Yee told Eurosport.

"I just kept ticking away. I’m just an ordinary person and anyone can do this if you believe in yourself and keep ticking away.

"I hope I can serve as inspiration that anything is possible. Believe in yourself.”

Yee will also be performing in the mixed relay on Saturday which may also feature Loughborough University alumna Vicky Holland.

Loughborough’s dedicated 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games website features all the latest news, videos, and medal tables from Japan. 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 21/142

Notes for editors

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2021 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in the Guardian University League Table 2021, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.