New Zealand triathlon superstar continued his spectacular start to 2024 with another epic performance this weekend.
The 27-year-old Kiwi great had a marvellous 2024, enhancing his huge reputation even further with some incredible displays – notably when coming so close to winning Olympic Games gold at Paris 2024.
That near miss behind Alex Yee cemented their short-course rivalry as one of the great matchups in triathlon history, but Hayden is having to look elsewhere for his fun in 2025.
With Alex spending the first part of the year targeting the London Marathon, Wilde himself has been mixing things up in a big way.
Hayden has taken care of business on the triathlon front in brilliant style – romping to superb victories at WTCS Abu Dhabi and also at T100 Singapore in his first attempt at that distance. Wilde though is also trotting the globe outside of triathlon – with the last seven days the perfect example.
Last weekend he claimed victory in Belgium’s iconic Antwerp 10 Miles Race, and a few short days later he was in Tokyo, Japan for the 10k showdown at the ASICS Tokyo Speed Race.
Wilde aces Tokyo Speed Race
Hayden went into the big event in Japan hoping to beat the New Zealand national record of 27:28 – a massive ask under any circumstances.
Wilde, as always, gave it everything as he pounded the streets of Tokyo under lights on Saturday night against an elite field.
While unsurprisingly he couldn’t live with the pace in the front pack (winner Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia clocked 27:10) he did put up a hugely credible performance.
When Hayden crossed the line he stopped the clock at a terrific 27:39 – not quite good enough for that national record, but more than good enough to lower his personal best.
The races (over 5k and 10k for both men and women) saw 10 National Records set and 48 Personal Bests recorded.
Tokyo Speed Race Results – 10k
The big race took place on Saturday May 3 in Tokyo, Japan and the top 10 looked like this:
| Pos | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | Jemal Yimer | Ethiopia | 27:10 |
| 2 | Victor Kipruto | Kenya | 27:11 |
| 3 | Vincent Kibet Langat | Kenya | 27:11 |
| 4 | Amos Langat | Kenya | 27:25 |
| 5 | Abbabiya Simbassa | Ethiopia | 27:32 |
| 6 | Sam Clifford | Australia | 27:34 |
| 7 | Hayden Wilde | NZL | 27:39 |
| 8 | Santiago Catrofe | Uruguay | 27:46 |
| 9 | Admasu Tisa | ||
| 10 | Ayana Geneti |
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
