Hayden Wilde went within a whisker of winning the triathlon gold medal today, but in the end had to settle for a courageous silver.
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 so that entering the run he was 4th.
He ran aggressively and opened up a significant lead on Briton Alex 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 and passed him with about 300 metres remaining.
Wilde was 10th fastest in the bike section and second fastest (behind Yee) on the run.
Yee won gold in 1h 43min 33s, Wilde silver, six seconds behind, and fast-finishing Frenchman Leo Bergere, the 2022 world champion, was third, four seconds behind Wilde. Yee said afterwards that midway through the run he felt a silver medal was on the cards.
Yee and Wilde both upgraded their Tokyo Olympic performance, when Yee took silver and Wilde bronze.
The other New Zealander in the men’s race was Dylan McCullough, who selflessly dropped back during the bike section to link with Wilde and help him move up through the field. McCullough eventually finished 19th, in 1h 45min 35s.
Wilde paid tribute to McCullough afterwards.
"Kudos to Dylan. He sacrificed his race to come back for me. We put in an absolute charge on laps 4 and 5. 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 a 15-second lead on Yee, 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."
The women’s race was dominated by wet conditions on the bike ride.
It was won by home-country favourite Cassandra Beaugrand in 1h 50min 07s from Julie Derron of Switzerland and Briton Beth Potter.
The two New Zealanders involved were never up with the leaders.
Nicole van der Kaay finished 31st, 2min 01s behind Beaugrand. Van der Kaay finished the swim in 37th position (of 55 starters), and was midfield for the rest of the journey.
Ainsley Thorpe was 35th after the swim, but on the second cycling lap her bike slipped on the greasy surface and she tumbled off. Thorpe looked quite shaken, but pluckily got back on the bike and continued, having lost about 12 spots in the field. She finished in 44th place, 2min 03s behind the winner.
Van der Kaay said she was unsure of her position during the swim. “I had an average start but was happy with the swim overall.”
She said she was fairly cautious on the bike. “I’ve had a few crashes, so I play it on the cautious side, though my cornering was okay today – we’ve been practising that.”
Thorpe said the swim was chaotic. “The current was much stronger than you’d expect, and it was a battle to get to the side where swimmers were more protected.”
She said may not have been cautious enough on the bike, given the conditions. “You want to play it safe, but you want to race as well. I was proud of myself that I got back on the bike and finished.”