Sunday December 15, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand – circle the date triathlon fans, Hayden Wilde already has.
It’s been another terrific year for the 27-year-old superstar New Zealand triathlete, but he is far from done as he targets another massive win.
Coming into 2024 Hayden had four big targets on his calendar – the Paris 2024 Olympics, the WTCS world title, a supertri title and that massive showdown in his homeland just before Christmas.
Wilde on the board with supertri success
Wilde admits he called it the ‘quad crown’, and so far he has one out of three perched on his head after clinching supertri glory in Sunday’s Grand Final in NEOM. He came agonisingly close to Olympic glory before claiming silver behind great rival Alex Yee, and it was a similar story in WTCS combat.
Wilde admitted his overall supertri victory was anything but plain sailing as Yee, himself and Frenchman Léo Bergere again finished one, two, three just as they had in Paris and in the final WTCS standings.
Nerve-wracking day in NEOM
He told supertri’s Adam Leitch: “Last time I won the series all I had to do was top seven so having to get a podium was a bit nervewracking over the day.
“Once again the three of us are back on another series podium so it’s quite nice and kudos to the boys.”
So now all attention for ‘The Falcon’ turns to that step up in distance for another mouthwatering showdown, this time on home soil in Taupo.
Now for the (70.3) Worlds
Asked about his season overall, he added: “I was calling it the ‘quad crown’, that’s what I was going for – the Olympics, the World Series, supertri and the 70.3 Worlds.
“I’ve got one of them which is nice – and second in the other two – and hopefully I can go two out of four, that would make it a pretty awesome year for me.”
The last target on that list is the 70.3 Worlds which are on Wilde’s home turf of Taupo in New Zealand in mid-December.
