Paris triathlon: “I really paid the price for putting it all out there,” says Hayden Wilde on his epic battle for silver

 Hayden Wilde versus Alex Yee was one of the big talking points pre-Olympics. Having similar racing styles and strengths, tri fans were eager to see the two great rivals, and friends, go toe to toe over the cobbles of Paris.

And boy were we rewarded. Not only did the pair produce perhaps the most exciting Olympic triathlon 10K in history, but the pair have since become the poster boys for the entire Olympic spirit after silver-medallist Wilde joined winner Yee on the finish line carpet and put his arm around him.

So after leading until almost the very last corner of the 10k run, and within sniffing distance of that gold medal, how did it feel to come away with silver?

“Obviously everyone wants gold,” admitted Wilde at the finish line while chowing down on a chicken stir fry. “And you feel a little bit lost without getting the gold. You’re so close. But with time I’ll be very proud of what I’ve done today.”

Change of plans

Due to water quality issues, the men’s race was moved back a day to take place straight after the women’s race, so a 10:45am start, and therefore hotter temperatures, caught out the Kiwi.

“Yeah I didn’t really prepare that for that one. Obviously we thought we were racing at 8am, so I’ve been getting up pretty early. I think that was the thing I was most frustrated with.

“I was getting up at 5:30 every morning for two months and going to bed at 7, and that’s really hard to do in Spain because it’s light till 10pm! But it is what it is and you know we’re elite athletes, we have to adjust to the circumstances.”

A slap on the ass for a legend

After a difficult swim, Wilde then missed the front two bike packs, which Yee had managed to catch, and was seen working furiously for the first four laps to bridge the 1min gap.

“If I didn’t put that big surge in and shoot some ammo there it would have been game over for sure. I think it probably stung my legs a little bit too much, but I got back to the group and a big kudos to [teammate] Dylan [McCullough] who came back [from the lead pack to assist Hayden]. If it wasn’t for Dylan, I wouldn’t have had those legs today on the run.

“So yeah, he sacrificed his race and he put an absolute charge in for lap four or five, and gave me the opportunity to rest up, save my legs. That was something special. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate. He’s got his own ambitions and I don’t want anyone to sacrifice their race for me. What he did out there was selfless, it was fantastic.

“And I just said to him when he came back, “You’re a f******g legend. Slapped him on the ass and gave him the kudos he needed.”

Attack the gap

Onto the 10k run and it was down to business for Wilde and Yee at the front, but on the first lap Yee was dropped, Wilde seemingly cruising to a gold medal to add to his Tokyo bronze. Wilde also had a game plan.

“I saw my chance at 2K a few months ago when Alex and I raced in Cagliari. He slowed up as he did actually today, to recover. But I wasn’t having any of that, so that was my chance and I attacked, got a gap and just had to work hard.

But as Yee found an extra gear in the closing stages of the 10k, Wilde lost his, and with it the gold.

“I really paid the price of being courageous and putting it all out there, and just the heat got to me. I was just depleted. I was gone. I was done. I had nothing left and I just had to survive to get to the finish line.

“I felt real good until probably 2K to go but then I just didn’t have the gap I really wanted to at the end. It didn’t pay off, but I did everything I possibly could and I can’t be disappointed with the silver.”

Taking a year off

So with a bronze from Tokyo and a silver in Paris, will Wilde be chasing the full set in LA in 2028?

“I did say whatever the colour was I wasn’t going to come back. So I guess since it’s silver, I have to come back to LA. Would be rude not to, depending if it’s an Olympic distance or a sprint distance, who knows?

“But I think I might take a year off from the World Triathlon Series and go up to 70.3. I just feel like it’s my home and I can really show off my bike and run prowess at the same time.”

The better man today

As for that perfect sporting-moment finish in Paris, where Wilde and Yee were sat on the carpet and chatting, what were they saying to each other?

“We were just reminiscing, like finally having a good race that both of us actually finished well, you know. It’s no secret that Alex and I have choked in some of the big races, the Grand Finals. So it’s just really nice for us to have a battle.

“And we finally got a battle that we both deserve. There were no penalties [Wilde was penalised in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Grand Final], both of us finished. It was just a clean, fair race for the both of us. And I think that’s what we’re most proud of and most stoked of. It was just everything that we had dreamed of, a foot battle.

“We go back eight years, when we roomed up in Jersey for the Super League, that’s the first time I met him. Just being together with him on the podium it was something special. We’re really good friends at the end of the day and, yeah, that’s the Olympic spirit. He was the better man today.”