Leeds triathlon results 2021: Who is Alex Yee and what happened to Alistair Brownlee and Jonny Brownlee at the World Triathlon Series at Roundhay Park

It was 23-year-old Yee's first World Series win, but the picture was more mixed for local heroes the Brownlee brothers.

Who is Alex Yee?

The Londoner studied Sport and Exercise Science at Leeds Beckett University after completing his A Levels at Kingsdale Foundation School in Dulwich.

Leeds is effectively the home of British triathlon due to the enormous success of Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, who are from the city.

Yee trained in Leeds with the Brownlees for three years before switching to Loughborough in 2020.

"When I first joined Leeds, I was almost in awe of them," he told BBC Sport.

"Gradually as things progressed I realised they're only human, but incredible and they have achieved so much.

"It's still surreal that I'm in the same conversations as Alistair and Jonny.

"They're two of the greatest athletes ever to do triathlon. That's pretty surreal to be competitive with them. That gives me confidence that if I do get selected, there's a real opportunity."

He added: "There's so much unknown with regards to the Olympics and what it'll take."

Yee has been a rising star for several years, winning the ITU World Junior Duathlon Championship in Spain in 2016.

Despite being a nationally ranked runner, he has declared that triathlon is his main focus.

In June 2017, Yee suffered a horrendous bike crash during an ITU Triathlon World Cup event in Italy, which left him with broken ribs, a broken vertebrae and a collapsed lung.

The crash left Alex unable to train and with a long road to recovery, but he got back out on track later that year.

In August 2020, Yee ran the second fastest 5km time ever by a British athlete.

In Roundhay Park on Sunday, Yee broke away in the early stages of the 10k run that followed the 1500m swim and 40km cycle race, finishing an impressive 25 seconds ahead of Morgan Pearson of the USA.

Alistair Brownlee tweeted of his performance: "[Alex Yee's] performance today was outstanding and a breakthrough."

What happened to Alistair Brownlee?

Double Olympic and world champion Alistair is Great Britain's most successful triathlete, but he had a disappointing race at Roundhay.

He was disqualified after he was seen dunking Chase McQueen during the swimming leg of the event, but said it was "completely unintentional".

He told the BBC: "In the middle of the swim, anything can happen. I'm in the middle of a stroke and I can guarantee that as bad was done to me 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after. It is a subjective field of play decision, but it is what it is."

Alistair is still technically in contention for Team GB later this year, but appears to have acknowledged he will not be going to the Olympics.

He said after the race: “Over the last three months I’ve asked myself why I’m still trying to go to the Olympics and a friend pointed out ‘that’s the beauty of the Olympics’ and why I’m still here.

“I could have walked away and retired but I’m here because I love it and I want to compete, still wanted one more roll of the dice but it didn’t work out.

“It was good to finish, because I was pretty sure that was going to be my last World Series race so I had to finish.

“I always knew it was going to be a struggle, I’ve really struggled over the last three or four months with an injury.

“I needed a miracle today. I’ve done everything I can, I’ve trained as hard as I can, I’ve done all the medical treatment I could, I’ve had the best support team I could have.

“I needed a bit of luck today but I didn’t get it.”

He tweeted on Sunday night: "I think GB have a great team going to the Olympics and I wish them all the best."

What happened to Jonny Brownlee?

Alistair's younger brother fared better at Roundhay, finishing in ninth.

Two-time Olympic triathlon medallist Jonny has told BBC Sport that the Tokyo Games later this summer will be his last.

He was already selected for the Games at the end of 2020.

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