Alex Yee revealed his Commonwealth Games gold was the best moment of his career to date but admitted the controversial finish to the men’s triathlon was “a shame”.
Sutton Park played host as Olympic silver medallist Yee made up 15 seconds on the run to catch and eclipse his great rival and world No 1 Hayden Wilde, giving Team England a golden hello on the opening day of action in Birmingham.
However, the New Zealander could still be upgraded to gold alongside Yee with an appeal pending after he served a controversial 10-second penalty for unclipping his helmet before racking his bike that deprived fans of a scintillating sprint finish.
With the process expected to take up to 30 days, Yee faces a lengthy wait to see if he will be joined on the top spot of the podium and said: “I’m sorry for Hayden that it happened but I don’t know anything more about it.
“Everyone wants to see a sprint finish and an exciting race. At the top of the hill when I caught him, I said, ‘Sorry you’ve got a penalty mate – it’s rubbish’.
“We want to race the race the hard way and the honest way, so it’s a shame but at the same time that was probably the best moment of my career so far.”
The pair have dominated World Series racing this year with two wins apiece and their friendship embodies the spirit of the friendly Games as Wilde celebrated Yee’s win while serving his penalty after the pair had fist bumped as they crossed paths.
And the Englishman insisted there was certainly no sense of revenge after Wilde’s victory in Leeds last month came when he caused a crash on the bike that took Yee out of the race and ended Jonny Brownlee’s hopes of competing here.
Yee added: “I raced my own race. I just want to get back from stuff like that [crash in Leeds], so getting that momentum and confidence back in myself I think is more important than getting any sort of comeback.
“We are great friends on and off the course. It’s special to share moments like that with people and hopefully we are bringing on the sport and maybe it’s a new rivalry in the making.
“To finally do a major championship in front of my parents and in front of a crowd as well, is special. I feel hugely honoured to kick off these Games on such a positive note.”
Georgia Taylor-Brown complained of feeling “flat” after failing to make it a Team England double, settling for silver in the women’s race behind Bermuda’s Flora Duffy in a repeat of Tokyo 2020.
Taylor-Brown, who will race alongside Yee in Sunday’s mixed triathlon, was powerless to stop her long-time rival from retaining her title, literally bowing down at the finish line after finishing 41 seconds behind her.
Scotland’s Beth Potter was a surprise leader out of the swim and although she eventually claimed her country’s first medal of the Games with bronze, Duffy and Taylor-Brown attacked on the bike to turn it into a two-horse race between familiar protagonists.
Taylor-Brown, so often a serene steely presence on the final leg, was looking over her shoulder instead of making inroads on Duffy and said: “I’m feeling a bit flat today but even on a good day, it’s hard to keep up with Flora. She’s a super runner and I know that because I’ve been beaten by her many times. I just didn’t have it today.
“Sometimes you have those days in the month where you are just a bit flat and not as much energy as you’d like to have but that’s what being a girl is.
“I’m very happy with a silver medal at my first Commonwealth Games so I can’t be disappointed there.”
Elsewhere, England’s Sophie Coldwell placed fourth with Sian Rainsley and Brownlee’s replacement Daniel Dixon both finishing 12th while Samuel Dickinson came 19th after emptying the tank on the bike to put Yee back into contention.
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