Hayden Wilde admitted Friday at WTCS Weihai was one of his worst performances of recent years – but it was also one he was immensely proud of.
The triathlon world (and all those new crossover fans) were hoping for another great battle with Olympic champion Alex Yee after their Paris 2024 and supertri showdowns.
But the big match never materialised as Wilde was unusually unable to bridge up to the lead pack on the bike, and eventually finished down the field in 7th.
But as Yee romped clear of the field to win in astonishing fashion by 46 seconds, Hayden was taking on a battle of his own. The one against himself as he refused to give up.
Hayden Wilde on WTCS Weihai woe
Writing afterwards on his Instagram account, ‘The Falcon’ said: “It’s days like these, Teach you the biggest lessons in racing do you give up or keep pushing that went through my mind a couple of times when things weren’t right.
“I was super excited about this course as it was tough and it suited me very well having a front group swim was perfect and set me up very well but being a little bit off the back in the last 200 and 300m of the Swim put me on the red line limiter for too long.
“Jumping onto the bike straight away I didn’t feel like myself struggling to close a little 2-3second gap which continued to put me in the red zone too long before the first climb.
“We approached the first climb. I know I just had to get over it and try and stay in the group. To not be able to go with the group on the terrain. I love to ride on. It was personally hard to take and disappointing but that is racing taking a blow like that at the start of the race is never nice, but it’s what you do for the remainder of the race that teaches you the biggest lesson. So I continue to push and try to maintain a gap to salvage a good result at the end.”
After the trials of that disappointing bike leg on such a brutal course, Wilde knew the run would not be a pleasant experience with victory or a podium already out of the question. But he was totally up for a different kind of challenge.
Hayden on a different kind of challenge
“Coming off the bike just over 90 seconds behind a lot of work to do but I was up for the challenge. I put my head down and started chipping away. I was able to pick up a few athletes and finish seventh thus seventh place is one of my worst performances in a few years. It’s one of the ones I’m proud of due to the way I fought all day.
“An athlete at the peak of their Sport always wanting to win, but it’s these days that humble you and show your only human. I could also put this result down to a few things that happened at the start of the week but I’d rather reflect on the positives coming out of this race. obviously not ideal for the series but there’s always a chance sitting in third quite some points off first but as everyone knows the grand final is a whole different beast”
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