Bronze in Tokyo, silver in Birmingham, gold in the 2024 Olympics in Paris?
“Be rude not to do it, won’t you?” Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde commented: New Zealand’s opening medal tally at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a silver medal on Friday evening (NZT).
“I want to try to get them all, get every color I can.”
Wilde’s silver at Sutton Park goes with the bronze he won at the Tokyo Olympics last year, when he also kicked New Zealand’s medal count.
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde won New Zealand’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games.
Naturally, he could still have his silver upgraded to gold, he was allowed to appeal the controversial 10-second time penalty he received for prematurely loosening his helmet.
However, pinged after completing the 20km cycle track in ominous form, it could take up to 30 days for a decision to be made.
A year after Britain’s Alex Yee finished ahead of Wilde to take silver in Tokyo, he netted gold in the final chapter of their escalating rivalry.
But only after the 24-year-old Whakatāne athlete was forced to take the penalty and see a fast-finishing Yee clear the finish line for 13 seconds in front of his adoring home fans.
But what he didn’t have to do was step aside and clap Yee as they entered the final straight.
“This rivalry has only just begun, but the friendship is only getting better. I am absolutely thrilled to see him get gold, especially in his home country. And I’m just excited to just get on the podium for New Zealand. ”
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde is serving his 10-second time penalty in Birmingham.
Asked about his sporting gesture at a time when no one could have blamed him for the stewing, Wilde said it was just the type of person he was.
“It was a well deserved race. I did everything in my power, as you saw when swimming and cycling, to hold him off. But he was just the better man today. He crossed the line first.”
After he dominated the sprint race (750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run), Wilde was sentenced for allegedly loosening his helmet before putting his bike in the garage.
Rui Vieira / AP
Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde shortly after finishing second at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The Whakatane athlete told former Kiwi triathlete Ryan Sissons it was “bullshit” after crossing the line, before calling it “extremely debatable” when speaking to the media afterward.
The penalty knocked Wilde out of his game as he considered whether to take the 10-second penalty on the first 2.5km lap or on the final lap.
“I didn’t really know what to do,” he admitted. “Maybe I should have taken it on the first lap and then tried to chase Alex.”
“I was very hesitant to take him in the first round, but that might have cost the silver medal as well, as I know [Australian] Matthew [Hauser] came in hard and Matthew finishes extremely fast.”
Wilde and his team will now argue what the officials say didn’t happen, which is Yee’s opinion.
“I definitely knew I had my bike in the rack, and I used it as a balance plate because when you come off the bike your legs are a little jelly, and then I knew I had it in one hand and getting ready to loosen it and it loosened it.
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Hayden Wilde’s Commonwealth Games silver can still be upgraded to gold.
“I’ve done it almost all season and haven’t been caught for a penalty yet.”
Regardless of the appeals decision – Wilde wants to be awarded a second gold rather than a trade with Yee – he isn’t about to let that deter his quest for a world title.
With 3850 series points to his name – Yee is ninth with 2000 – Wilde has the Cagliari and Bermuda races ahead of him, before the series concludes with the final in Abu Dhabi in November.
“That’s my next big goal and hopefully I can take home a world title.”