Training for Triumph: How Alex Yee Became a World Champion

The 2024 season has been a standout year for COROS triathlete Alex Yee, Olympic Champion and now World Champion joining an exclusive club as one of the few athletes to have achieved this golden double in the same year.

Alex's path to the WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos has been a new type of challenge, but just like his data-driven approach to Olympic Gold, Alex and his coaching team have been calculated and direct in their approach to ensure Alex was best prepared to become World Champion.

Training Product: COROS PACE 3 and COROS HR Monitor

Race Product: COROS DURA

Analysis Tool: COROS Training Hub

Alex Yee's 2024 Season  

Alex had one item on the agenda for his 2024 season: going for gold in Paris. To achieve this, Alex and his team leveraged experience while incorporating training data to ensure he arrived in the best form possible. The outcome was Alex securing the gold and becoming the most decorated triathlete in Olympic history.

Most athletes, after reaching the peak of their season would take a break, before resuming training ahead of their next goal. This approach, commonly known as the periodization of training, can yield great results for athletes, enhancing training efficiency and minimizing potential overtraining, however, experienced athletes, such as Alex, can handle a greater intensity. Even though "there was only ever a rough plan post-Paris", according to his long-time coach Adam Elliott. Alex was in the form of his life and opportunities were still on the horizon.

The Road to the Grand Final

After Paris, Alex took on the dynamic racing of the supertri series in Boston, Chicago and London. We can see a steady decline in Alex's Base Fitness after the mixed relay in Paris before levelling off and beginning to rise again. This is to be expected as base fitness is the 42-day rolling average of your training load, and given the taper that Alex had into the Olympics, his training load wouldn't have been as high.

"I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after the Olympics, but taking one race at a time allowed me to keep purpose within my training, which was vital in a period of so much unknown".

Alex was still committed to racing out the remainder of the season and capitalizing on the form that had been built.

Alex Yee Win's WTCS Weihei

Alex traveled to Weihei, China for his next race, breaking away from the main pack during the challenging bike leg. From there, it was a chance for Alex to stretch his legs on the run and secure another victory. This put him in a strong position for the World Series, accumulating a maximum of 3000 points over the three eligible races of the season. Although the World Championships was attainable from a numbers perspective, Alex and his team were firmly set on approaching the grand final the same as any other race.

"I really wanted to race in China. The course was challenging and as a result, motivated me to prepare. I kept an eye on my power and cadence on the COROS DURA during the bike leg which helped inform my nutrition strategy, allowing me to reach the run in the best place. It all went great, which made the World Series a possibility, after not being able to deliver in the Grand Final on previous occasions, I wanted to go back."

How Alex Yee trained to become World Champion

Alex then goes through a series of steps to rebuild his base fitness scores. Typically, we would see a more gradual build in fitness for an athlete over a few weeks or months. However, motivated by strong results and the possibility of becoming World Champion, Alex used these races to build momentum.

These short blocks were incredibly intense. The 10 days following his victory in Weihei, Alex racked up over 21 hours of running and cycling, amassing a total training load of over 2000, before tapering for the final. "We only focused on the next race and what was essential to be ready for the startline, asking ourselves what is driving us right now. There were no rights and wrongs during this period, only what motivated him" his coach revealed.

The key bike session used before the World Championships

During this intense training block, Alex replicated the technical nature of the bike course at the Grand Final course. The focus of this workout was to practice braking and accelerating into and out of corners mimicking the fatigue and intensity of race day.

After a 60-minute warm-up spin, Alex began as he often does with 3 x 45-second sprints with 45 seconds of soft pedaling, followed by a 10-second hard effort. Alex averaged 263 watts for 50 minutes, with surges out of the corners well above. It was the ideal simulation for the grand final.

"We focused on exactly what we needed to do to be ready for race day", Alex's coach recounted. Adding to the rollercoaster of his 2024 season, Alex was required to attend jury service for 10 days following his win in Weihei, which impacted the ideal preparations ahead of the grand final.

This adaptability and resilience is something that Alex has demonstrated throughout this season, from the postponement of the Olympics to not feeling 100% on the day and still delivering everything that was expected.

The WTCS Grand Final Race

Starting on Los Álamos beach, the race set off at 5:00 PM (CET) with a 1.5km sea swim. Coming out of the water in 35th, part of a large pack, Alex had some work to do to get through the congestion to the front of the race. Aided by the fastest split through the first transition, Alex moved through the pack well.

With such a large pack and a technical course, splits were a real danger. A small group took advantage of a crash in the group, gaining a gap of 30 seconds by the end of the second lap. With a crucial break containing his main competitors for the overall title, Alex's hand was forced early in the bike leg.

"The first lap I wanted to move up and position the best I could in the big group we were part of, unfortunately, I was caught on the wrong side of a crash and a small split opened. I tried to make an effort to close across but I left it too late after realizing and was unable. The rest of the ride was about riding for the best position to start the run."

Knowing this was a pivotal moment in the race, Alex tried to push the pace within the chase group, averaging 264 watts and 44.53 km/h for the third lap, which was nearly identical numbers to the session that he performed just a few days earlier. Unfortunately, he was unable to close the gap. The pace didn't let up too much for the remaining 25km, as Alex ended the bike leg averaging 236 watts for 42.60 km/h and the gap to the leading group swole to 1 minute 38 seconds by the second transition.

With the lead being insurmountable at this stage, Alex aimed to ensure he finished within the top 6 which would cement his bid to become World Champion due to the points he'd accumulated.

"Going into the run I wanted to invest early in the first 5km to make inroads into the front of the race and race the people that were in front as best I could. The time gaps began to drop to a group of 3 of the front guys and at the end of the third lap I moved into 3rd place."

Although Alex was unable to overhaul the entire gap, his 29:17 split saw him pull back some of the leading group, finishing on the third step of the podium and achieving an incredible double of becoming World & Olympic Champion in the same year.

Using data to develop

Alex's 2024 season serves as a powerful reminder of how the combination of hard work, strategic planning, and data-driven insights can lead to extraordinary success.

Alex showed incredible consistency, timing his best performances for when they mattered most. Aided by the lightweight COROS PACE 3 to track all his running workouts, the COROS DURA for racing and the COROS Heart Rate Monitor to ensure the greatest heart rate accuracy. Alex measured every moment of success in his incredible 2024 season.