The European men are tricky. Not only are there too many successful stories from 2023 to sift through, but the nature of the different stories means that any determination of the top athlete is incredibly subjective, potentially even more than usual.
Such has been their collective form, several European men make strong claims to have had a better year than the literal world champion. You could close your eyes and pick at random from any of the men listed and still easily defend their status as the top European man. While we have tried to not be quite as random, we have to admit the selection here is as justified as it is unjustified. It has simply been that kind of year.
Alex Yee (GBR)
Alex Yee was the only man in the WTCS to win three races, matching his feat from 2022. At each of his wins in Abu Dhabi, Cagliari and Paris, he was nothing short of majestic and proved that he is the best runner in the sport.
Given that none of his European rivals won more than one WTCS race, Yee automatically has a claim to having had the best season.
Following his in-season success, he was the favourite to take the world title heading into the WTCS Final. However, a sub-par day out saw him plummet from 1st in the Series to 5th. One iffy performance, though, should not cloud what was otherwise a tremendous year.
A bronze medal in Hamburg made him one of three men to win four WTCS medals in 2023 while he also logged the quickest Olympic distance run of the season.
Throughout the year, then, Yee was the man to beat and his exceptional levels are not easily overlooked.
Honourable Mentions
How can the world champion not be the best athlete on his own continent? It is a flawed logic, that’s for sure. Dorian Coninx won WTCS Pontevedra in memorable fashion and in doing so became a shock world champion. Whereas Yee fell from 1st to 5th at the WTCS Final, Coninx went from 5th to 1st. A bronze medal at the Paris Test Event gave Coninx two WTCS medals while he did not finish outside of the top-5 in the WTCS season.
The rationale for putting Yee ahead is simple. Just as Yee’s season cannot entirely be defined by one bad day, Coninx’s cannot be defined by his best moment alone. Without Pontevedra, the argument would be more decisive in Yee’s favour.
On the other hand, Pontevedra was the race that mattered most. It simply cannot be ignored. As such, while the rationale of taking the totality of the season into account can be used, that is not to say it is necessarily right.
Vasco Vilaca also had a terrific season as he won four WTCS medals, the joint most of any man (shared with Yee and Hayden Wilde). His silver medals in Paris, Hamburg and Abu Dhabi gave him medals over all three distances while he added a bronze in Yokohama. Moreover, Vilaca claimed a first ever World Cup win in Rome. The only missing piece from his season is a WTCS win, which is a fairly ludicrous standard to set. Yee’s wins, though, put him ahead of Vilaca.
Pierre Le Corre probably had the most interesting season of any triathlete. Between his various side quests, he earned a first ever WTCS win in Sunderland and added a bronze at WTCS Pontevedra. He therefore ended the year with the same medal haul as Coninx. Like Coninx, Le Corre also never finished out of WTCS top-5.
The sole difference between the two is that Le Corre raced one time fewer in the Series (which made him the top man in the WTCS without a full quota of races). At the same time, to add the cherry to the cake, Le Corre also won a World Cup in Tangier.
It also says plenty about the depth of Europe that Leo Bergere, a double WTCS medallist with a silver in Sunderland and a bronze in Cagliari, has not yet been mentioned when multiple medals has been enough to be the top athlete on other continents. Likewise, Tim Hellwig was the only man to win multiple World Cups and added a WTCS silver medal in Pontevedra. Such has been the depth of the European men, their amazing achievements have been crowded out.
To conclude (although it is unlikely to be the final say on the matter), Yee’s winning ways made him the European Male Triathlete of 2023. No mistake should be made, though; he faces a fight to stay at the top next year.
