Wilde grabs silver medal in triathlon

Hayden Wilde secured New Zealand’s first medal of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games with a dramatic second placing in the men’s triathlon.

Wilde, a bronze medallist in the Tokyo Olympics last year, set a cracking pace in the swim and cycle legs to lead the race favourite, Englishman Alex Yee, by 16 seconds going into the run.

But Yee is known for his tremendous running – in Tokyo he outsprinted Wilde for the silver - so New Zealand followers were never quite sure Wilde’s margin would be sufficient.

The matter was taken out of Wilde’s hands somewhat when it was deemed he had infringed on the bike changeover, and therefore incurred a 10-second penalty.

Yee quickly ate into the New Zealander’s lead and by the time they reached the finishing straight, they were level. At that point Wilde had to spend 10 precious seconds in the penalty box.

Yee won in 50min 34s. Wilde was second in 50min 47s and Australian Matthew Hauser was third, just three seconds behind Wilde. Wilde, still only 24, has now won Olympic bronze and Commonwealth Games silver and is fast building an incredible career CV.

The other two New Zealanders in the race, Dylan McCullough and Tayler Reid, performed very creditably. McCullough was seventh, 61 seconds behind the winner and Reid was eighth a further 10 seconds back. Reid was very fast on the swim and cycle legs, but lost nearly 90 seconds to Yee on the run.

Wilde described the result as “bitter-sweet”. “I had a fantastic swim and really went for it on the bike. To have 16 seconds on Alex going into the run was something I’d dream about.”

Then he heard about the penalty. “I knew exactly what it was for, and it was extremely debateable to be honest. But it is what it is. I had to decide whether to take the penalty on the first or second lap of the run.”

In the end he waited and used Yee’s speed to drag himself along and ensure he secured the silver.

“There was a lot of think about during that run – do I risk everything to go for gold, or do I ensure I get at least the silver? I was close to the gold, but I’m proud to have won the medal for New Zealand, our first medal of the Games.”

McCullough was delighted with his performance. “I’m still young, and was really aiming for a top 10 and to get some experience here. To finish seventh…I’m over the moon with that,” he said.

Reid said he paid the price for a very fast bike leg and admitted he wobbled home on “legs of jelly” in the run, though eighth in a field of 46 was still an excellent result.