This guy is an unbelievably great athlete. I honestly think he could win London overall as he will be focusing on running which is very different from swimming. I would not be surprised if after that he lines up and wins the Tour de France outsprinting Pogacar for the victory on Paris' Camps Elysis to recreate his 2024 Olympic glory on the same streets.
If I’ve learned anything over the years it is that triathletes are only marginally faster if they focus on one sport. What makes them world class is the ability to be very good in three sports at the same time. It also makes them not quite world class elite in any of the three. Even if they focus on just one.
Lance Armstrong would like a word. So would Richie Porte.
New Balance poured lots of sponsorship money for the London Marathon. Alex Yee is a New Balance athlete. They want a British athlete to build their campaign on. Alex Yee was just nominated for the BBC's Sports Person of the Year.
If I’ve learned anything over the years it is that triathletes are only marginally faster if they focus on one sport. What makes them world class is the ability to be very good in three sports at the same time. It also makes them not quite world class elite in any of the three. Even if they focus on just one.
Lance Armstrong would like a word. So would Richie Porte.
Lance was never a good enough swimmer to be world class at olympic triathlon. Porte was never a world class triathlete. Neither of them were good runners either. Lance ran about a 2:45 marathon.
If he sets out at 2:07 pace he's going to blow up. If he runs smart by staying in the back of the front pack for the first half, he has a decent chance to finish in a good position. I highly doubt he can just set out and achieve that ambitious pace on his first try at world class marathon pace.
New Balance poured lots of sponsorship money for the London Marathon. Alex Yee is a New Balance athlete. They want a British athlete to build their campaign on. Alex Yee was just nominated for the BBC's Sports Person of the Year.
That's a really good point. NB has a few other British distance runners but none that will draw eyeballs like Yee. I'm not sure if Callum Hawkins is still an NB athlete but he has been on the slide for years now
Maybe but this isn't a typical debut. He specializes at the top of his sport & race for ~same duration as a marathon, while training 20+ hours/week. This is like someone debuting who has run well through the half marathon. He would be able to run 2:07 pace for a while so, sure, maybe a blow up would come in the later miles but Yee is a good runner. I agree that he could've had a decent running career if he had never gone to triathlon. Triathlon isn't what some people remember it to be. People run crazy fast now. Just look at the women's side of things. The sport has changed a ton since Gwen dominated up until 2016. Now she can't run people down because the sport has gotten stronger in every discipline. It's the same on the men's side. Yee ran sub-30 in Paris in the heat to take gold.
Triathlon is a dying sport. Nothing is decided until the run in almost every Oly. distance race. They might else just have the run and be done. And, long course races 70.3/140.6 are real yawners, like watching an Ultra Race. The future is hybrid racing: Hyrox and Deka. These combine real strength tests along with fast running and are much more enjoyable to watch or compete in.
no chance, maybe 213-214. Nobody debuts that fast out of the tri, even if he was a runner. Triathletes have the biggest heads around until they taste humble pie of 42.2K on the tarmac . Though, he's likely dirty like all pro-triathletes so theres a chance he could run 212 ....maybe
Lance Armstrong would like a word. So would Richie Porte.
Lance was never a good enough swimmer to be world class at olympic triathlon. Porte was never a world class triathlete. Neither of them were good runners either. Lance ran about a 2:45 marathon.
lol. Lance was front pack when he competed in triathlons - he beat Mark Allen in sprint race if i recall correct. Lance was a swimmer before anything else. He was also at the front when he did 70.3s after retiring from cycling. I think he swam close to near to Bevan Docherty (silver and bronze in olympics) when they raced each other in 70.3s. Richie Porte competed at junior ITU level - that is world class imo.
I think the starting point of 2.07 to 2.10 looks right. 2.07 just 8 months after an Olympic Tri would be unprecedented but that is what great champions are about.
He will by mid April have a load of training data that suggests where he should pitch it. He won't really know the marathon deal until he gets to c 34k at MP which regardless of race duration is a significantly different thing from a tri. If he splits 63.30 at half way off even pace I think he might end up with a 2.10 but anything much slower would be quite the learning experience. I'm sure London will provide some suitable racers as well as pacers for him. Maybe seseman himself.
If he sets out at 2:07 pace he's going to blow up. If he runs smart by staying in the back of the front pack for the first half, he has a decent chance to finish in a good position. I highly doubt he can just set out and achieve that ambitious pace on his first try at world class marathon pace.
2:07 is a time targeted by the best Americans, so can hardly call it "world class".
Alex Yee is a super talented runner but a true triathlete. He is focused on London but big picture is still going on in the background . An awesome kid who will do well , 2,07 is not out of the question but it will be 64 then 63 xx