World Triathlon Championship Series: Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown begin title bids

Olympic gold medallists Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown will begin their world triathlon title bids on Friday as the series gets under way in Abu Dhabi.

Britons Yee, 25, and Taylor-Brown, 28, had to settle for silver in last year's World Triathlon Championship Series finale held at the same location.

Commonwealth champion Yee lost out to France's Leo Bergere, while Bermuda's Flora Duffy edged out Taylor-Brown.

The series will be shown on the Red Button and the BBC Sport website.

Yee and Taylor-Brown teamed up with Jessica Learmonth and Jonny Brownlee to win gold in the inaugural Olympic triathlon mixed relay in Tokyo having both won silver in the individual events.

Yee trailed New Zealand's Hayden Wilde going into the 2022 world finale as he attempted to become the first British male champion in 10 years, but in a late twist both athletes were overtaken by world number one Bergere.

Yee is joined by compatriot Barclay Izzard in the men's sprint, but Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt is missing the competition through illness.

In the women's competition, Taylor-Brown will have the opportunity to make a statement in the opening race in the absence of Tokyo 2020 individual gold medallist Duffy.

The Briton has not finished outside the top two of a world series race since 2019, but that consistency was still not enough to deny Duffy her fourth world title.

"It was nice for her to be at the finish line to give me that hug I desperately needed," Taylor-Brown said of Duffy, speaking to Olympics.com., external

"Huge respect to her for being there for me at that point. She knew how hard that was going to be for me."

Fellow Britons Beth Potter, winner of Commonwealth bronze last year, Kate Waugh and Sophie Coldwell are also set to contest the elite women's opener.

The seven-event 2023 series concludes with the final in Pontevedra, Spain, with the penultimate race held in Sunderland for the first time. Points from the Paris Olympics Test Event will also count.

The overall champion is decided by an athlete's best four results, plus the championship Finals.