'Once a fool to become an expert' - Yee set for marathon debut

Alex Yee is making his London Marathon debut 10 years after completing the Mini London Marathon for a fifth time

When Alex Yee sits down for post-race dim sum with his family on Sunday, it will represent a poignant full-circle moment.

That was the reward Yee, who has Chinese heritage on his father's side, recalls provided the main motivation to run - and twice place third in - the Mini London Marathon as a child.

It was not long before the spectacle of the London Marathon captured his imagination and he nagged his parents to help him peer over the barriers for a closer look at the elites.

But on Sunday it is Yee, the reigning Olympic and world triathlon champion, whom hundreds of thousands of spectators will hope to catch a glimpse of as he embraces the unknown on the streets of his home city.

"As time went on I realised the excitement of the London Marathon, the impact it had and how momentous a day it was," Yee tells BBC Sport before his debut over 26.2 miles.

"I'm not thinking past the experience but afterwards I'd definitely like to get some dim sum with my family and have that deja vu moment," he adds, 10 years on from his last mini marathon.

There are certainly less demanding challenges the 27-year-old could have undertaken to provide the mental refresh he sought after a career-defining year.

But after capturing triathlon's two biggest prizes fewer than 12 weeks apart, ending his world title wait in October after his spectacular recovery on the banks of the River Seine clinched Olympic gold in Paris in the summer, Yee knew where he wanted to set his sights next.

Not that he expected his coach to agree to his left-field suggestion.

"Definitely not. It's been something I've asked every single year, but it never really made sense," says Yee, the most decorated Olympic triathlete in history.

"This time we were trying to think what would get me to LA [2028 Olympics] in the best place mentally and physically. It was important to freshen things up.

"It's been really exciting to work on my running after five years of trying to make my swim and bike an appropriate level to be competitive in triathlon. It's something I've wanted to do and I'm excited to scratch that itch."

Alex Yee overturned a 15-second deficit to rival Hayden Wilde in the final 2.5km to win a dramatic Olympic men's triathlon gold at Paris 2024

It should be no surprise that Yee, an athlete obsessed with the process of improvement as much as the success it brings, has relished this new challenge.

He speaks about his first marathon training block with a beaming smile and is not ruling out another in future - although a return to triathlon is scheduled for early 2026 at the latest.

"To have something which has given me that purpose to get out of bed, to go out and keep searching for those fine margins, I think that's really rare to find in the first year after an Olympics when you hear of athletes soul searching and not knowing what to do," says Yee.

"To be an expert on something, you have to be once a fool. That's the way I'm seeing it. I wanted to go in with an open mind and come out the other side as a better runner - but also better holistically.

"It's been really interesting to learn from so many people and feel like a novice again."

Yee is part of a stellar elite men's field featuring 10 athletes who have run the marathon in under two hours and five minutes, including one of his sporting idols in four-time winner Eliud Kipchoge.

There is also Olympic champion Tamirat Tola, defending champion Alexander Mutiso Munyao, and debutant Jacob Kiplimo - who in February became the first person to run a half marathon in under 57 minutes.

Yee's target? Enjoy the experience - and go through halfway in 64 minutes and 30 seconds.

That would give him the chance to become only the 10th British man to run under 2:09, while only 22 have broken 2:10.

Running is Yee's strongest discipline and he has competed for Great Britain on the track and in cross-country, while his 5km best of 13:26 is the third-fastest ever by a British man.

"It would be a massive honour to, hopefully, be in that ballpark of people who have achieved amazing things," says Yee.

"I think it's going to be an amazing day for the Brits but also a historic day at the front. Hopefully I can say I was part of a sub-two hour marathon race."

Alex Yee will meet Eliud Kipchoge, whose most recent London Marathon victory came in 2019, after Sunday's race

To Yee's astonishment, Kipchoge was among those to offer him advice and said in January that he would like to meet and help mentor the Briton when they are in London.

So the former mini marathon runner and Kenya's two-time Olympic champion have arranged to meet after the race.

In the meantime, Kipchoge, widely regarded as the greatest distance runner of all time, has offered wisdom via WhatsApp - something Yee describes as "surreal".

"His big piece of advice was to get to the start line. It sounded silly at the time, but after unfortunately seeing people forced to pull out, it's probably the strongest piece of advice of all," says Yee.

They are likely to have much to discuss.

Both are passionate about using the power of sport to inspire, with Yee now keen to utilise his platform as Olympic champion.

He intends to provide opportunities to school children through the launch of his own foundation, initially in the south London area he grew up in.

Yee also hopes documenting his marathon journey on YouTube can demonstrate that elite athletes are not "superhuman", before he stars on the other side of the barriers he used to watch behind.

"The more we share our story I feel like people realise that we're just like anyone else, and there's no reason why they can't dream to achieve what I have - or even so much more," says Yee.

"You start to feel this urgency with the fortunate position I'm in, being an Olympic champion, that I can and I want to make a difference.

"I'm not expecting to leave this big legacy behind. If I can change one person's life, that's good enough for me."