Triathlon: No golden end for Hayden Wilde as Commonwealth Games appeal dismissed

New Zealand's Hayden Wilde congratulates England's Alex Yee after the men's individual triathlon at the Commonwealth Games. Photo / Photosport

By RNZ

Hayden Wilde has had his appeal dismissed by World Triathlon, meaning his Commonwealth Games silver won’t be upgraded to gold.

Wilde had appealed against the 10-second transition penalty he was given for unclipping his helmet before he had racked his bike during the men’s race at the Birmingham Games in July.

The penalty cost the New Zealand No 1 the chance to sprint for the gold medal with British rival Alex Yee, with Wilde having led the race up to that point.

Triathlon NZ says it’s disappointed with the result as it considers that there was no evidence of Wilde doing what was alleged.

Triathlon NZ and Wilde considered whether a further appeal, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), would be appropriate, but decided not to take the matter further.

Wilde will now direct his energy into winning the World Triathlon Championship Series at the season finale which is set to be decided in Abu Dhabi on November 27.

“I know what I did and I know what I did wasn’t wrong [in Birmingham] but at the end of the day you kind of can’t dwell on the past, you’ve just got to look to the future and I think that is what I’m doing currently,” Wilde said.

“I’ve got my eyes set on a different goal now, as much as I wanted that gold medal in Birmingham.

“I’ve got my eyes set on being crowned a world champ which I think is a huge opportunity for me and for New Zealand.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a world champ, the last time was Bevan Docherty [in 2004]. My goals are to look forward and try and get this world title and bring it back home to New Zealand.”

After victories in Leeds and Hamburg and a pair of second placings in Yokohama and Montreal, Wilde will enter the WTCS decider in the UAE capital in the No 1 bib.

The Whakatane 25-year-old ironically finds himself racing Yee for the world title after Yee notched wins in Yokohama, Montreal and Cagliari, the latter a race Wilde bypassed, in addition to the final regular season event in Bermuda, opting instead to spend an entire month prepping in Abu Dhabi.

Wilde’s ‘Monk Mode’ training block in Abu Dhabi comes after he was crowned Super League Triathlon champion in Neom, Saudi Arabia on October 29 after three wins and two third placings in the separate five-event series.

“For me, I’m in a good head space. I think I was a little bit dark on it but I just had to use that anger and frustration through Super League which I came home with [courtesy of] three wins and two podiums,” Wilde said.

“So [I’ll] definitely use that bit of frustration to build on heading into world champs.

“I always look forward to a good battle with Alex. He’s been in some fine form and my form has been pretty good too so I’m really looking forward to this race.”

Triathlon NZ chief executive Pete de Wet said the governing body were “extremely proud” of Wilde’s silver medal in Birmingham and the “sportsmanship Hayden showed to the gold medal winner, Alex Yee, when he decided to take the penalty, knowing that this meant he was likely giving away his chance for gold”.

“At the time Hayden did not know why he was being penalised but he showed respect to the decision issued on the field of play and to his fellow competitor. In doing so, he represented both New Zealand, and himself, with a high degree of integrity and sportsmanship,” De Wet said.