Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee says his London Marathon debut was “one of the best experiences” of his life despite suffering more “dark moments” than during his victory at the Paris Games.

The 27-year-old finished 14th in the men’s elite race in a time of two hours 11 minutes and eight seconds.

Yee, who also became triathlon world champion in October fewer than 12 weeks after his Olympic win, was the second-fastest Briton behind Mahamed Mahamed, who finished ninth.

“It was probably one of the best experiences of my life if I’m being honest. I expected the crowd to be good but they were another level,” Yee told BBC Sport.

“I am so proud to have completed the marathon.

“An amazing experience but it was hard at the end. Emotions about [the] time will come afterwards, but the main thing for me today was to enjoy it, do something unknown and embrace it. I did that to my best of my ability.

“This is bigger than running. It’s an amazing day and I wanted to be a part of it. This was the perfect opportunity.”

Asked how running a marathon compared to a triathlon, he added: “My legs have never been this sore. Physically they are quite similar but my legs have never felt like this in my whole life. It’s a new experience definitely.”

Yee confirmed that the switch to the marathon would “definitely not” be a permanent one as he plans to try and defend his Olympic title in Los Angeles in 2028.

“Definitely a lot more dark moments, I’d say, than Paris, today,” he said.

“Once I got to 32, 33k there’s a lot of pain there. My legs are cramping and I just had to keep fighting through that.”