Alex Yee vs Hayden Wilde continues to be a triathlon rivalry for the ages.
Twelve days ago at Paris 2024 these two superstars of the sport had their greatest duel yet in the baking hot French sun as they battled in epic fashion to claim Olympic Games gold.
Wilde appeared to have finally shaken off his great rival with a surge to the front on the run, and Yee appeared to have no answers. That is until the British star conjured up one final mighty effort to catch and pass his Kiwi nemesis.
It was spectacular stuff and it made headlines around the world, as did their touching show of sportsmanship immediately afterwards as they sat together on the blue carpet.
Now the dust has settled, and the Paris 2024 Games are sadly over, but there are still big prizes to be won this WTCS season. We do have one regular season event left this year, Weihai in China on September 27, followed by those October Championship Finals in Torremolinos.
So how did what we saw in Paris last month impact the latest World Rankings? Time to find out, triathlon fans.
Latest WTCS Rankings
The first thing to note is that neither Yee nor Wilde actually tops the men’s rankings, and there’s a simple reason for that – neither has raced three times in WTCS competition yet this year.
Yee has two victories from two starts in 2024 – at WTCS Cagliari and then that golden moment in Paris – good for 2000 points and third place in the post-Olympics world. Wilde mean – second both times to his great rival – is fifth on 1850.
Assuming all goes to plan – and that means the big guns featuring in the top five in China – the status quo should be changed late next month.
Top of the pile right now is Australian Matt Hauser, who followed up second in Yokohama and victory in Hamburg with seventh place in the big dance in France. Second is Frenchman Pierre Le Corre after his fourth in Paris, while compatriot Leo Bergere is fourth in the standings behind Yee after claiming Olympic bronze.
Here are the latest men’s WTCS standings after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games:
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Races | Pts |
| 1 | Matthew Hauser | AUS | 3 | 2301.40 |
| 2 | Pierre Le Corre | FRA | 3 | 2110.36 |
| 3 | Alex Yee | GBR | 2 | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Leo Bergere | FRA | 3 | 1957.63 |
| 5 | Hayden Wilde | NZL | 2 | 1850.00 |
| 6 | Luke Willian | AUS | 3 | 1778.99 |
| 7 | Charles Paquet | CAN | 3 | 1750.86 |
| 8 | Morgan Pearson | USA | 3 | 1719.95 |
| 9 | Csongor Lehmann | HUN | 3 | 1677.16 |
| 10 | Vincent Luis | FRA | 3 | 1579.81 |
| 11 | Vasco Vilaca | POR | 3 | 1557.57 |
| 12 | Kenji Nener | JPN | 3 | 1507.13 |
| 13 | Vetle Bergsvik Thorn | NOR | 3 | 1502.90 |
| 14 | Ricardo Batista | POR | 3 | 1498.49 |
| 15 | Alberto Gonzalez Garcia | ESP | 3 | 1472.56 |
| 16 | Marten Van Riel | BEL | 3 | 1295.91 |
| 17 | Miguel Hidalgo | BRA | 2 | 1075.18 |
| 18 | Kristian Blummenfelt | NOR | 3 | 1016.39 |
| 19 | Tayler Reid | NZL | 3 | 1014.53 |
| 20 | Jelle Geens | BEL | 3 | 970.23 |
Next WTCS races
WTCS Weihai takes place in China on September 27, 2024.
The Championship Finals then take place in Torremolinos-Andalucia with the men’s individual race taking centre stage on Sunday October 20.
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
