New Zealand triathlete Hayden Wilde has upgraded his medal color at the Paris Olympics.
A bronze medallist three years ago in Tokyo, Wilde took silver in the men’s triathlon on Wednesday after a classic duel with old rival Alex Yee of Great Britain.
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For much of the 10km run leg, it looked like Wilde would match Hamish Carter, who won gold for New Zealand 20 years ago in Athens.
Wilde led Yee by 15 seconds at one point, but the Briton stormed back to pass the Kiwi with 300 metres remaining, winning by six seconds in 1 hour 43 minutes 33 seconds.
Wilde, 26, was only 29th after the swim (in a field of 55) and was well back for much of the bike section, but stormed through late to be fourth after the second transition.
He ran aggressively and opened up a significant lead on Yee, who is known as a fast finisher.
Sure enough, though Wilde battled away, glancing increasingly frequently over his shoulder, Lee began to gather him in over the final 500 metres.
Wilde was 10th-fastest in the 40km bike section and second-fastest (behind Yee) on the run.
Yee admitted post-race that midway through the run he felt a silver medal was on the cards.
The other New Zealander in the men’s race, Dylan McCullough, selflessly dropped back during the bike section to link with Wilde and help him move up through the field. He eventually finished 19th, in 1:45:35.
Wilde paid tribute to McCullough afterwards.
"Kudos to Dylan. He sacrificed his race to come back for me,” Wilde said.
“We put in an absolute charge on laps four and five. If it wasn't for Dylan, I wouldn't have had the legs on the run. He gave me the opportunity. I couldn't have asked for a better team-mate. He deserves the keys to New Zealand.”
Wilde said when he opened up the gap on Yee on the run, he hoped he might hang on to win.
"The heat got to me, and I'd had to shoot a lot of ammo on the bike. I was depleted and had nothing left. It was just a battle to get to the finish line."
Fast-finishing Frenchman Leo Bergere, the 2022 world champion, grabbed the bronze medal, just four seconds behind Wilde.
In the women’s race, New Zealand’s Nicole van der Kaay and Ainsley Thorpe finished a distant 31st and 44th, respectively.
Thorpe, who was 25th out of the water, took a spill in the wet conditions early during the 40km bike leg, dropping more than three minutes off the lead.
Thorpe looked quite shaken, but pluckily got back on the bike and continued, having lost about 12 spots in the field.
The 26-year-old completed the bike in 46th, more than four-and-a-half minutes back, but a speedy transition put her 40th starting the run. She finished almost nine minutes off the pace.
“You want to play it safe, but you want to race as well,” Thorpe said. “I was proud of myself that I got back on the bike and finished.”
Van der Kaay, 28, was never up with the leaders after emerging from the Seine in 37th, more than two minutes back.
She worked her way up to 29th during the bike leg but dropped two spots early in the run, eventually finishing 6:38 behind the winner, France’s Cassandre Beaugrand.
The four Kiwis will now team up in the triathlon mixed relay on Friday.
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