World champion

WELL PLACED: Gisborne’s Tayler Reid is looking to build on last year’s triathlon triumph at the Gold Coast, where he became the under-23 world champion. Picture by ITU Media/Wagner Araiko

It was a risky move and he knew it.

Gisborne triathlete Tayler had tried it before and failed.

Not this time.

The 21-year-old is the under-23 men’s champion of the world after a sensational performance at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final carnival on Australia’s Gold Coast.

It’s still sinking in a few days later as Reid comes to terms with the gravity of his achievement.

Due home later this week, he can close his eyes and still see the moment he made his move in the 1.5-kilometre swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

“It all came together,” said Reid, who continues to develop with every year of his burgeoning professional career — a life he has envisaged since he was a lad.

His family has played a huge part in that and they were the inspiration for his world-conquering performance.

“I saw all my family on every lap. I just felt good, and I thought I am going to go for it,” said Reid as he got into a three-man tussle with Britain’s Samuel Dickinson and France’s Leo Bergere.

The “go for it” came with two kilometres of the run remaining.

“I came out of the water second and the boys were working well together, putting lots of time into the fast runners.

“In the past I’ve got too excited and I’ve gone out too fast, too soon. So I was conservative on the bike and took my turns on the run.

“While I was running I was thinking ‘world champion’ and I just wanted it so bad.

“I took a risky move but I felt good so I went for it, dug deep and went full gak to the finish line.”

An emotional Reid crossed the line in 1 hour 44 minutes 8 seconds and ended up 12secs clear of Dickinson, with Hungarian Bence Bicsak passing Bergere to finish third.

The look of sheer jubilation on Reid’s face said it all and no one was prouder of him than coach Stephen Sheldrake.

“We sat down seven years ago and wrote down a plan to 2024, and on that pathway was medalling as an U23 athlete.” said Gisborne-based former ironman professional Sheldrake

“We have achieved that a year earlier than planned. People have talked about Tayler being a great swimmer/biker but not being able to run.

“We’ve seen that’s not the case. All he had to do was get to the run, having not burnt all his matches, and we knew he’d be in a good space.

“I did think that maybe he had gone too early on the run but he had the confidence and extended it out for the win with a perfectly executed race.”

Hayden Wilde finished ninth while Nicole van der Kaay was fourth in the women’s race — giving New Zealand three top-10 performances in the u23 elite divisions.

“It’s a true reflection of the hard consistent work that these guys have put in since last year,” said Triathlon NZ high performance director Mark Elliot.

“I’ve always known Tayler has the ability to be at the front and in the first 3-4km on run he said he felt good, so we were excited to see what was going to happen.”

Triathlon New Zealand chief executive Claire Beard, said: “It’s outstanding to see such amazing results from dedicated athletes performing so well on the international scene.

“What an exciting time for triathlon in New Zealand.”