Triathlon star Hayden Wilde says there is a ‘fire in the belly’ pushing him to make his competitive return at London T100 next month – but insists he will only take part in the race if his body is up to the challenge.
The 27-year-old New Zealander, who has spent the last two months recovering from serious injury, caused something of a surprise when World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) named him among the starters for the August 9 event.
Hit by a truck while out riding in Japan, the potentially career-ending crash left him with a punctured lung, six broken ribs, and a smashed-up scapula on his left shoulder.
‘I’m in a pretty good place’
Wilde started the season by winning both WTCS Abu Dhabi and T100 Singapore in what was his debut in the format.
And having battled his way back to near-full fitness, he is eager to once again step up to a race start line, admitting that time on the sidelines watching others compete has made him all the more grateful that he can compete among the very best within his sport.
Charting his recovery through a YouTube VLOG, which is embedded in this story below, the Paris Olympics silver medallist is now training well on both the bike and with regard the running, while his return to swimming is slowly picking up pace.
And, having sat down with his team to discuss the possibility of a return to action, he confirms that a cut-off date has now been agreed by all parties before confirming 100 per cent whether London is to be his comeback race.
“I’m in a pretty good place; there is definitely a lot of fire in the belly to try and line up in London,” he said. “I think having a little bit of a forced rest period and watching everyone race makes me hungry to get back on the start line.
“The injury that I went through is not ideal for anyone, but it just makes you think a little bit more that being at the top of the sport was obviously a privilege, and it always has been, but this reiterates that it is. It’s a special place to be, and hopefully I can get back to that level.
“For me now, in the next few weeks, we have a few races in mind. I’m targeting London, which is three weeks away. If I’m really satisfied, and if my team are satisfied, we will make the call to do London T100 on the 1st of August. We want to make sure I’m 100% healthy, and the T100 team are pretty happy for me to make the final call.”
Swimming the biggest challenge
Swimming remains the one aspect of his training which could potentially hold him back, having only recently been able to use both his arms in the pool.
The next couple of weeks will be crucial to his London hopes as he continues ‘pushing the envelope to remind the body what it could actually do’.
“It gives my team the opportunity to look at the numbers and see where I am compared to where I was in Singapore, and if we’re relatively close or in a place where I can actually be competitive and go for the win, then OK. If I’m not ready, I won’t go, but if I’m ready, I’ll be starting London for sure,” he said. “I just have a few more sessions to go and to see if we’re in a happy place… in the right place.
“I’m at a place now where I think I’m looking at performance on the bike and on the run side, but on the swimming, I think it’s still more about finding what the rhythm feels like. I’m not really pushing too hard on the swim at the moment.
“It’s actually a good opportunity to just completely forget about performance in the water and just think about technique. The hardest part coming back post-injury would have to be the swimming side and the running side.”
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