Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee is set to return to the London Marathon for the second straight year
Alex Yee is set to return to London Marathon action(Image: Getty Images, Getty Images)
This Sunday’s London Marathon will see Alex Yee line up in a star-studded field. The Olympic gold medallist has already opened up about his training regime and diet as he looks to get the very best out of himself in endurance events – and it’s not solely about supplements, as the Londoner also swears by the trusty banana to get himself race-ready.
Yee, who claimed victory in the men’s individual triathlon at the Paris Olympics following a remarkable comeback, only ran his debut competitive marathon in 2025. The 28-year-old already sits second on the British all-time list behind Sir Mo Farah despite a relative lack of experience over the 26.2-mile distance and is set to return to action in his home city this weekend.
Plenty of fans will regard Yee as someone whose example they will want to follow. He claimed individual silver and team gold at the 2020 Olympics before hunting down New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde to seal glory in Paris, after which he shed light on 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 told 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 level of fine-tuning goes hand-in-hand with the work elite athletes put into developing their training regimes, Yee also places great importance on his reliable staple foods. This is where bananas, which will set you back as little as 16p, enter the picture.
“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 days before the race, I was having plain white rice with one protein source – chicken or salmon or something like that. It’s just safe food without any risk of discomfort.”
Alex Yee won individual Olympic gold in Paris in 2024(Image: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)
It’s not solely about comfort, however. Bananas have been recognised as a particularly beneficial food in helping lower blood pressure, highlighting their advantages for everybody – not just seasoned marathoners and triathletes.
“Usually, when we have high blood pressure, we are advised to eat less salt,” said professor Anita Layton, of the University of Waterloo, Canada. “Our research suggests that adding more potassium-rich foods to your diet, such as bananas or broccoli, might have a greater positive impact on your blood pressure than just cutting sodium.”
Scientists at the Canadian university created a model examining how the human body is affected by the ratio of potassium to sodium, including analysing differences between men and women. “Early humans ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and as a result, our body’s regulatory systems may have evolved to work best with a high potassium, low sodium diet,” doctoral candidate Melissa Stadt said in the findings, which were made public in 2025.
“Today, western diets tend to be much higher in sodium and lower in potassium,” Stadt added. That may explain why high blood pressure is found mainly in industrialised societies, not in isolated societies.”
The Londoner impressed on his first London Marathon in 2025(Image: WireImage)
Yee recorded his marathon personal best in Valencia last year when compatriot Emile Cairess paced him to a time nearly five minutes quicker than his debut showing in London. The plan was for the roles to be reversed in the same city this year, only for Cairess to withdraw through injury, though Yee will still be there after being announced as pacemaker.
“It was an incredible experience to race the TCS London Marathon last year,” Yee said after being confirmed for the 2026 edition. “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.”
