Olympic triathlon bronze medallist Hayden Wilde was back on track – literally – on Wednesday, when racing over the 5000m at the Daikin Night of the 5s in Auckland.
A winner recently at the Marra Sprint Triathlon at Mount Maunganui, the Kiwi has expressed a desire to double up his Commonwealth Games ambitions in Tokyo, by qualifying for the 5000m on the track too. Wilde of course has been the New Zealand National Champion over the distance on multiple occasions in recent years.
Track goals
Wednesday’s event, which was raced for the Blincoe Cup, saw Wilde start with hopes to improve on his current personal best time of 13:29.47. Potentially, the Commonwealth Games A-standard of 13:17.00 was as a target.
In the leading trio inside the final kilometre, Oli Chignell raised the pace on the home straight with two laps remaining and quickly gained a 20 metre advantage over Wilde and Julian Oakley, from which Wilde was unable to respond.
While Chignell streaked away to a new PB, Wilde didn’t have that extra gear today and came home in third, 14 seconds down on his best – but still with a 13:43 clocking.
Wilde is due to be back out racing again on Sunday, this time in swim/bike/run format, at the Oceania Triathlon Cup in New Plymouth.
Blincoe Cup 5000m – Daikin Night of the 5s
Auckland – Wednesday 23rd March 2021
- 1. Oli Chignell – 13:34.82
- 2. Julian Oakley – 13:37.55
- 3. Hayden Wilde – 13:43.89
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