Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee is about to return to the London Marathon for the second straight yr
Alex Yee is about to return to London Marathon motion(Image: Getty Images, Getty Images)
This Sunday’s London Marathon will see Alex Yee line up in a star-studded area. The Olympic gold medallist has already opened up about his coaching regime and food regimen as he seems to be to get the easiest out of himself in endurance occasions – and it isn’t solely about dietary supplements, because the Londoner additionally swears by the trusty banana to get himself race-ready.
Yee, who claimed victory in the men’s individual triathlon on the Paris Olympics following a outstanding comeback, solely ran his debut aggressive marathon in 2025. The 28-year-old already sits second on the British all-time record behind Sir Mo Farah regardless of a relative lack of expertise over the 26.2-mile distance and is about to return to motion in his residence metropolis this weekend.
Plenty of followers will regard Yee as somebody whose instance they’ll wish to observe. He claimed individual silver and team gold at the 2020 Olympics earlier than searching down New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde to seal glory in Paris, after which he make clear how he gets himself primed for the challenge ahead.
“I have a very specific pre-race routine that I’ve practiced over the last 18 months of racing, which involves taking some carbs in on the bike and then a gel during the run and a few other gels during the race,” Yee advised GQ in 2024.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page
READ MORE: World’s oldest marathon runner revealed the one food he ate daily to survive until 114th birthdayREAD MORE: Marathon runner pays price for premature celebration as rival steals finish line win
“I use a supplement called Bicarb to help with lactate that allows you to essentially push into your red line a little bit longer and harder. It’s been used for years in track cycling and rowing and really short, sharp events, but people are starting to find benefit within endurance events.”
While that stage of fine-tuning goes hand-in-hand with the work elite athletes put into growing their coaching regimes, Yee additionally locations nice significance on his dependable staple meals. This is the place bananas, which can set you again as little as 16p, enter the image.
“The other critical thing is having enough carbs and making sure you eat quite plain foods before the race,” he added. “I’ll have plain rice with some honey and banana the morning of the race.
“And then the times earlier than the race, I used to be having plain white rice with one protein supply – rooster or salmon or one thing like that. It’s simply secure food with none threat of discomfort.”
It’s not solely about consolation, nonetheless. Bananas have been recognised as a very useful food in serving to decrease blood pressure, highlighting their benefits for everyone – not simply seasoned marathoners and triathletes.
“Usually, when we’ve hypertension, we’re suggested to eat much less salt,” said professor Anita Layton, of the University of Waterloo, Canada. “Our analysis suggests that including extra potassium-rich meals to your food regimen, corresponding to bananas or broccoli, may need a larger constructive affect in your blood strain than simply slicing sodium.”
Scientists on the Canadian college created a model examining how the human body is affected by the ratio of potassium to sodium, together with analysing variations between women and men. “Early people ate a number of fruit and veggies, and because of this, our physique’s regulatory programs might have advanced to work finest with a excessive potassium, low sodium food regimen,” doctoral candidate Melissa Stadt mentioned within the findings, which have been made public in 2025.
“Today, western diets are typically a lot increased in sodium and decrease in potassium,” Stadt added. That may explain why high blood pressure is found mainly in industrialised societies, not in isolated societies.”
Yee recorded his marathon private finest in Valencia final yr when compatriot Emile Cairess paced him to a time practically 5 minutes faster than his debut exhibiting in London. The plan was for the roles to be reversed in the identical metropolis this yr, just for Cairess to withdraw by damage, although Yee will nonetheless be there after being introduced as pacemaker.
“It was an incredible experience to race the TCS London Marathon last year,” Yee mentioned after being confirmed for the 2026 version. “As a Londoner, I thought I knew what to expect, but the crowds, the support and the atmosphere was more impressive than I ever imagined. Even though I won’t be doing the full 26.2 miles again this year, I’m looking forward to soaking up the experience again.”
