Double Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee is motivated to give back the support he received as a young athlete after being named to lead Team GB into the 2026 Summer Youth Olympic Games.
Brownlee will take on the role of Chef de Mission for Team GB’s Youth Olympic Games campaign in Dakar, Senegal, the first IOC event to be held in Africa, with athletes between the ages of 15-to-18-years-old set to represent GB.
The 38-year-old was honoured to be named and is motivated to make a difference for young athletes; some of whom won’t be much younger than the West Yorkshireman was when he debuted at Beijing 2008.
Brownlee said: “My role as Chef de Mission is a privilege and an incredible opportunity to inspire the next generation of young athletes – and that is such an important role.
“You’ve got so much at stake because it’s their dreams, their careers and their health all rolled into one incredible opportunity.
“I felt that in my career, the people that had the biggest impact on me were the mentors I met as a young person.
“That’s when you’re developing the most, and I think you’ve got the biggest capacity to improve as an athlete.
“The Youth Olympic Games are so special because there is perhaps nothing else where over 10,000 young people, from every country on the planet, all live under the same roof.”