Alex Yee named British Sportsman of the Year
The Sports Journalists' Association selected the 2024 world and Olympic champion for the award
Photo by:
Nick Iwanyshyn
After a career-defining season that saw Alex Yee win Olympic gold and a world title, the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA) awarded him with the honour of British Sportsman of the Year. The SJA British Sports Awards select the top man, woman, and team every year, choosing from a list of elite nominees. Yee beat out a number of other athletes to take home the honour and cap off an already remarkable year.
BREAKING: Alex Yee wins the SJA Sportsman of the Year award 🚨 pic.twitter.com/43F8TbKUYZ
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 20, 2024
The highlights of Yee’s season were of course his Olympic gold-winning performance in Paris in July and his world championship series title, but those are far from the only reasons he locked up Sportsman of the Year. He won a long list of races on both the World Triathlon and supertri circuits, piecing together his best season to date.
He kicked his 2024 campaign off in May in Fréjus, France, where he won a Lindahls Pro+ Triathlon Series (formerly the French Grand Prix Series) in a tight battle with New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde (the first of their many battles this season). He went on to win the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Cagliari later that month and a European Cup event in Austria in June as he built to his second time racing at the Olympics.
Yee of course went on to win gold in thrilling fashion, throwing down a mind-boggling comeback to steal the victory from Wilde in the closing kilometre. He added a bronze medal in the mixed relay with Team Great Britain. Less than a month later, Yee and Wilde were back to their sparring, this time in Boston for the first supertri event of the year. Once again, Yee edged Wilde out for the win.
Yee went on to win one more supertri race in Neom, Saudi Arabia and another World Triathlon Championship Series event in Weihai, China. He also finished third at the World Championship Final in Spain, which secured his overall series title and world crown for 2024.
With such a stellar season under his belt, it was no surprise that Yee was named a nominee for British Sportsman of the Year. A win, however, is big news, as the SJA selected him over a Wimbledon champion, a UEFA Champions League-winning soccer player, and many other top-tier British athletes.