Olympics 2021: Dreams do come true, says triathlete from Brockley as he picks up silver

Alex Yee said his rapid rise to the top of triathlon had taken a “normal guy” from south east London by surprise, adding: “Dreams really do come true.”

Yee, 23, from Brockley, Lewisham won a silver medal on his Olympic debut in Tokyo early on Monday.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics:: Team GB Medal Haul

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He was looking to follow in the footsteps of Alistair Brownlee by making it three successive British golds at the Games.

But Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt proved the strongest on the run at Odaiba Marine Park.

Jonny Brownlee, who was bidding for a medal at a third successive Olympics having won bronze in London and silver in Rio, had to settle for fifth.

Yee is the fastest pure runner in the history of triathlon but over the past couple of years he has proved himself capable of living with the best on the swim and bike as well, making him a formidable competitor.

His father Ron had taken him to watch duathlon when he was seven.

Two years later, coach Jon Horsman took the prodigy under his wing at Crystal Palace Triathletes.

After standing on the podium to receive his medal, Yee said: “It hasn’t really sunk in quite yet, it doesn’t feel quite real that it’s me yet.

“I still just feel like a normal boy from south-east London - dreams really do come true.

“I hope I can just serve as inspiration to many people that this is possible. I’m not anything special, I just really enjoy sport and I’ve been really lucky that it was me.

“I still feel like I’m a child of the sport, I’m going into every race trying to learn things.

“If I can carry on improving my swim then I can be a bit higher up and be in the race every time and that’s the goal for me, just to become the complete athlete rather than be winning everything, and fame and money.”

His place on the Olympic podium is all the more remarkable given he came back from a serious bike crash in his first World Cup event in June 2017, causing a punctured lung and broken ribs, vertebrae and a shoulder blade.

Yee returned nine months later and claimed his first World Cup victory in Leeds earlier this year, beating both Brownlee brothers to take gold.

He added: “It’s a bit surreal to come back from a point where people said I wouldn’t be able to do the sport again.

“That’s a product of all the people behind me. My mum always says that it takes a village to raise a person and she’s not wrong.”

Monday’s race started at 6.30am to avoid the worst of Tokyo’s heat and humidity.

However, there were farcical scenes as a boat blocked half of the competitors when the gun went off and the other half had to be stopped and escorted back to the pontoon for a restart.

Yee’s silver made Britain the most successful nation in Olympic triathlon with six medals so far, and the trio of Georgia Taylor-Brown, Vicky Holland and Jess Learmonth will hope to add to that in the women’s race on Tuesday.

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