Alex Yee

The Olympic gold and silver medallist cruised to the line unchallenged after New Zealand's Hayden Wilde was forced to take a 10-second penalty.

To hold the gap to 15 seconds on the bike was pretty good and I felt confident I could do it. I am proud of my team. I have spent so many sessions doing the same hill so many times and when I got there it felt like I had done this race before.

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It was on the final hill when I made big inroads.” But we are good friends off the course." “It was weird with the hills.

ALEX YEE delivered on his promise to bring England a golden Triathlon start to the Commonwealth Games - and claimed it meant MORE than his Tokyo glory.

“I looked at the penalty board and I saw No 1. “I think our bike pack worked well together. Yee added: “I knew at the end of the first lap of the run that Hayden had the penalty.

England's Alex Yee has won the first gold medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, taking victory in the men's triathlon. | ITV News Central.

England’s Alex Yee has won the first gold medal of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, taking victory in the men’s triathlon. Yee, who's from Lewisham, grabbed England’s first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games with victory in the men’s triathlon at Sutton Park. Commonwealth Games: Alex Yee wins England’s first gold medal of Birmingham 2022

Alex Yee grabbed Englands first gold medal of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with victory in the mens triathlon at Sutton Park.

Elsewhere, Georgia Taylor-Brown, who also won an individual silver medal in Tokyo, will be looking to emulate Yee later on Friday in the women's event. Yee is already an Olympic gold medallist, having claimed the mixed relay title in Tokyo. He also won the silver in the individual event. The athlete also enjoyed recent success in the newly created Super League Triathlon, where he claimed the 2021 Championship Series.

England's Alex Yee follows up his Olympic silver medal with gold in the men's triathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Wilde soon followed Yee to win the silver medal, with Australia's Matt Hauser (50:50) clinching the bronze medal, but the former hinted that his team would appeal the 10-second penalty. Once the news of his penalty filtered through to Wilde, he gave Yee a pat on the back and stepped aside to serve his penalty, allowing the Englishman to cross the line with a total time of 50:34. Alex Yee won England's first gold medal of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with a barnstorming display in the men's triathlon on Friday.

England's Alex Yee delivered a wonderful performance to take the first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games as he stormed through the field to take the ...

To hold the gap to 15 seconds on the bike was pretty good and I felt confident I could do it. It's an amazing day for triathlon and I feel super proud to be the winner of this event. While the gap was initially 16 seconds between Yee and the leaders, they managed to stretch it as far as 21 seconds. The South Londoner was now in his element as he began the final part of the event - the long distance run. "I feel extremely grateful and proud to be a triathlete today. Yee found himself with some work to do early on as he finished the swim in 16th place.

Alex Yee takes Team England's first medal of the Birmingham Games with gold as New Zealand rival Hayden Wilde collects silver.

He was in the group and he was in contention, I knew it was going to be a hard task even with 16s in front. I’m proud of what I did, I didn’t leave anything to chance and yeah, it was a ripper!” If I’d have had Jonny up on the front, who knows what would have happened.” [Alex and Jonny crashing] was the last thing I wanted to see, but to see him here and to get that gold medal for his country is fantastic. On him cheering Yee to the finish line: “I’m chuffed for the guy, he played a perfect race. That was the game plan in the last kilometer to really wind it down. On the Leeds crash: “We’re really great mates behind the scenes and he knows it’s part of racing. There’s a few things in the race I did perfectly. On when he found out about Hayden’s penalty: “I knew at the end of the first lap, I had a look at the penalty board. And I’m just proud that I could do it for Team England, for myself, my family, for everyone.” A mere 2.5km would decide the champion. Yee however, had the same idea and kept the pressure on.

Olympic silver medallist Alex Yee handed Team England their first gold of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, leading a thrilling comeback over world No.

They face Malawi in their second group match on Saturday. "No-one has ever won twice and that was weighing on me. "I have a lot of time for Hayden, he is a great competitor and brought the best out of me every single day we race."

Yee won with New Zealand's Hayden Wilde taking silver and Australia's Matthew Hauser the bronze.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. With a gold medal round his neck, Yee said: “It’s a bit of a fairytale, isn’t it? This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

Olympic silver medallist Alex Yee handed Team England their first gold of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, leading a thrilling comeback over world No.

He became his country's joint-most successful Commonwealth athlete in the process, with a fifth gold medal drawing him level with lawn bowler Alex Marshall. "No-one has ever won twice and that was weighing on me. They face Malawi in their second group match on Saturday.

It was yet another almighty showdown between England's Alex Yee and New Zealand's Hayden Wilde that brought the Sutton Park crowd to its feet in Birmingham.

We got 16 seconds on the bike and that was super exciting, and the plan was to have Alex burn his matches catching up and then go for it the last kilometre. The second climb proved decisive, and by the top Yee was breathing down his rival’s neck, sitting on his shoulder then passing as the blue carpet neared. I was like a dog with a bone up there on the bike, I’ve never not had someone to chase, I just had to keep the watts up and go for it, put everything on the line.” Twenty seconds back the chasers were now on foot too, the first climb into the park seeing Reid drop off the front as Wilde and Riddle pushed on. “The swim was solid but then I see Hayden up the road and just wanted to stay calm. I’ve run on this course hundreds of times so the loop felt familiar, and I’m just proud to pull it together for England. This race is honest and hard and I didn’t want to blow up my legs on the bike.

Alex Yee grabbed England's first gold medal of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with victory over Hayden Wilde, who suffered a 10-second penalty in the ...

There was also a place for Scotland on the podium as Potter ran home in third and a further 40 seconds behind Taylor-Brown. Duffy came home in 55 minutes and 25 seconds and a convincing 41 seconds in front of Taylor-Brown who was competing in her first Commonwealth Games and saluted the winner with a bow as she crossed the finishing line. “It was just incredible to be a part of that and to have that moment, I don’t know how often I will get that moment so it’s really special.”

Alex Yee delivered in style but his team-mates also played a pivotal role in his Commonwealth Games gold medal.

My job was to empty the tank and get Alex as close as possible to the front. “I gave it absolutely everything on that bike, just to get him as close as possible. He was unbelievable.” We did a cracking job in the end. “It’s sad for Jonny obviously that he wasn’t able to attend. That was absolutely the key goal.

England's Alex Yee wins the first gold medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the men's triathlon, while compatriot Georgia Taylor-Brown takes silver in ...

After they finished second and third behind Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt at the Olympics last year, Yee and Wilde have carved up the four World Series events, with two wins each. "I have been working on my bike this year and it is paying off," she added. Wilde described the penalty as "debateable" and suggested his team might lodge a protest, but was quick to credit Yee, saying he was "chuffed" for the 24-year-old. Taylor-Brown finished 41 seconds adrift. It's an amazing day for triathlon and I feel super proud to be the winner of this event." Yee overturned a 16-second deficit to leader Hayden Wilde in the 5km run and the New Zealander was then given a 10-second penalty for a transition error.

Alex Yee won the first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games for Team England in a thrilling head-to-head battle with Hayden Wilde in the men's triathlon.

It’s home, it’s the first race of the Games, this is totally unique and I don’t think there’ll be an opportunity in my life to get to do this again.” He later realised it was for Wilde, which enabled him to cut back his pace marginally but he still caught the Kiwi within the final kilometre. Considering how I felt before the race I’m extra happy with the silver medal. Maybe we’ll see in a race in the future but I always back myself on the runs.” And in any case the 24-year-old Londoner said he would have been confident of winning a sprint finish. ”I knew this course is tough, the hill can kill you every single time.