Originally published at: Yee Sprints to Gold Medal in Paris – Slowtwitch Blog
Alex Yee looked like he was settling for a podium finish. Having opened the run in first, he was passed by Hayden Wilde at the end of the lap, and saw Wilde build a 15 second lead entering the final 2.5 kilometers. If anything, the question was whether he’d hold onto the podium, with Leo Bergere and Pierre le Corre closing fast.
And then, from nowhere, with a kilometer left to run, Yee unleashed brutal closing speed.
With 400 meters left to run, Yee passed Wilde back for the lead, blasting his way to the 2024 Olympic gold medal in triathlon. Wilde, who had held the lead for much of the run, took silver. Leo Bergere emerged the better of the two Frenchmen to earn bronze.
The race, delayed by a little more than 26 hours due to water quality, took place in full as water quality tests came back in the "Good" range for World Triathlon's standards.
It had looked at the start like the men’s race would unfold similarly to the women’s event, with a lead pack of swimmer emerging from the strong current in the Seine and potentially able to put in a time gap. Instead, an initial group of six turned into a group of 19. Kristian Blummenfelt and Wilde, down after the swim, drilled the next chase group and by midway through the ride, it was a 32 person peloton that would ride together into transition and turn the event into an all-out 10 kilometer battle.
As the Race Unfolded
The swim quickly started turning into a W, with the men lined up on the far right of the pier leading to the first intermediate buoy. The downstream segment took merely 3:07 to swim over 400 meters. Schoeman and Hauser took to the front of the swim on the return leg, which saw the swim pack elongate into the extremely strong current. For perspective, it took nearly five minutes to swim half the return leg versus the 3 minutes for the entire swim down.
At the 900 meter mark, it was Hauser, Crociani, Schoeman, le Corre, and Riddle at the front. Also having good swims thus far were Conninx, Bergere, and Yee. Seth Rider was the lead American, :20 behind the lead. Defending champion Blummenfelt was another 16 seconds off the pace, and pre-race favorite Hayden Wilde was already 42 seconds arrears.
The shorter second loop carried athletes downstream very quickly again, with the return leg stretching the packs out further. Crociani took fastest swim honors in 20:10, with Schoeman, Hauser, Conninx, and le Corre with him. Rider had actually closed into the top 10 swimmers on the second loop, with Bergere and Yee losing time. Blummenfelt and Wilde found themselves both almost a full minute behind.
Onto the bike and a leading trio had formed of Crociani, Hauser, and Schoeman, with a chasing trio of Conninx, le Corre, and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia. It formed a group of six in the opening kilometers, with the French men egging their fellow leaders to take turns. The main chase, just 11 seconds back, included Yee, Rider, Bergere, and Marten Van Riel.
By the end of the first lap, the chase group caught the leaders, making a massive 19 man front group. Blummenfelt and Wilde, drilling the front of the next group, had closed the gap to 37 seconds. Conninx, recognizing the chase was on, was waving to his fellow riders, begging them to push the pace and prevent the dangerous runners behind from latching on.
At the one-third bike mark, and the first pack was still not working efficiently, despite the efforts from the likes of the three French men, Van Riel, Hauser, and Schomburg. Wilde and Blummenfelt’s group was just 21 seconds back, bringing names like Vasco Vilaca, Tyler Mislawchuk and Diego Moya with them.
Halfway through the bike and the chase group had latched itself to the back of the lead pack, making a 32 rider peloton. The first person trying to make a break from the leading pack was Tjebbe Kaindl, but his attack was quickly closed down. Kaindl and Alois Knabl attempted a move again at the turnaround near Arc de Triomphe on lap six, but it too was shut down.
In front of the Musee d’Orsay and Samuel Dickinson and Blummenfelt opened a small gap, forcing a response from the pack as they took the bell lap. But it was no avail, as 32 men hit the blue carpet for transition at the same time (with a minor collision towards the very rear of the pack).
Schomburg and Yee took the early lead on the run, with Dickinson pulling to the side of lap 1, his domestique duties done. Wilde had run himself to third, with Gonzalez Garcia, Lehmann (with a penalty to serve), and the likes of Blummenfelt, le Corre, and Bergere lurking a few seconds further arrears. Nearing the finish of the first run lap and Wilde had broken through and trying to close himself onto the shoulder of Yee.
At the end of lap 1 and it was Yee and Wilde running next to one another, 13 seconds in front of the large pack fighting for third. That pack had Bergere, le Corre, Mislawchuk, Blummenfelt, Charles Paquet, Ricardo Batista, and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn. Wilde passed by Yee on lap 2, with Yee ceding time to the chasers — who now had two distinct groups, led by Bergere and le Corre fighting for third place on the road.
Halfway home and Wilde’s lead was 15 seconds. Yee was just seven seconds in front of the French duo, who also had Mislawchuk in tow. Miguel Hidalgo led the next chase group, just nine seconds further back and Blummenfelt hanging onto the back of the group. On this lap, Mislawchuk dropped back to the second chase group, but le Corre and Bergere weren’t able to put more inroads into Yee.
With just 2.5 kilometers to run, Wilde’s lead remained 14 seconds on Yee. Yee had managed to build his lead over Bergere and le Corre to 16 seconds. Hidalgo and Batista had pushed up from the chasers, just three seconds further back, making it a four man battle for the final step on the podium.
In the final kilometer Yee dug incredible deep and blasted past long-time leader Wilde, sprinting for the gold medal over the final 400 meters. Wilde finished six seconds later, with Bergere taking bronze.
Men’s Race Results
1. Alex Yee 1:43:33
2. Hayden Wilde 1:43:39
3. Leo Bergere 1:43:43
4. Pierre Le Corre 1:43:51
5. Vasco Vilaca 1:43:56
6. Ricardo Batista 1:43:58
7. Matthew Hauser 1:44:17
8. Alberto Gonzalez Garcia 1:44:22
9. Tyler Mislawchuck 1:44:25
10. Miguel Hidalgo 1:44:27
Images courtesy of World Triathlon