Why is Olympic and world triathlon champion Alex Yee getting NO RESPECT in BBC SPOTY race?
He provided one of the moments of the Olympic Games as he became the most decorated triathlete of all time, carried the Team GB flag at the closing ceremony and has since won the world title.
But Alex Yee is still a massive outsider in the betting on the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Who leads the way?
The great Alistair Brownlee was the last triathlete to get on the SPOTY of the year ‘podium’ but even he didn’t complete the Olympic Games / world title double in the same year, so why can Yee be backed at around 100/1 to take the award?
Paris 2024 Olympic Games by Wagner Araujo (@wags.photo)
One reason is another Games highlight which also captured the British public’s imagination – Keely Hodgkinson’s victory in the 800 metres, her first global title.
She is the odds-on favourite for the BBC award but it is relatively open after that so could Yee yet emerge as a contender?
‘He has a definite shortlist chance’
We asked Sky Bet’s Sports Trader Andy Bell for the inside track on how the betting on Yee has fluctuated this year and he told us: “We originally priced up Alex at the start of the year at 80/1 for this year’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
“He was then was backed right into 20/1 after his amazing comeback performance for Olympic gold.
“But his price drifted back out all the way to 125/1 as the dust settled and other athletes came to the fore, but once again we’ve seen his price cut in half to 66/1 after he was crowned world champion.
“With Keely Hodgkinson a big favourite at 4/11 to take the award it shows that triathlon still struggles to get the attention it deserves amongst the mainstream sports.
“But Keely apart, the rest of the field is pretty wide open and Yee definitely has a chance to make the shortlist.”
The SPOTY award night is 15 December and the shortlist is usually revealed a couple of weeks before.
When we asked Alex what it would mean to be in the mix this year, he gave a typically modest answer: “I guess I’ve achieved a year beyond my wildest dreams and it would be really cool for a sport like ours to be even in the conversation for something like BBC Sports Personality.”
In terms of breaking out of the triathlon ‘bubble’, it wasn’t just the Paris gold medal which made back-page headlines for Yee but also his ‘ice-cool’ celebration when he won his next race at supertri Boston in the USA.
That again saw him get the better of New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, with whom he’s enjoyed an absorbing – and sporting – rivalry throughout the season.
Alex Yee takes the win in Boston [Photo credit: supertri]
Written by
Jonathan Turner
Jonathan Turner is News Director for both TRI247 and RUN247, and is accustomed to big-name interviews, breaking news stories and providing unrivalled coverage for endurance sports.
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