The 2025 season ended in frustration for New Zealand triathlon star Kyle Smith as he was ruled out of the T100 Grand Final in Qatar by a bike crash which resulted in a broken collarbone.
But just two months later he returned to action over the weekend in a half marathon on home roads – and came away with the win, though it wasn’t without a late scare.
The event in question was the Waitoa Half Marathon which was held alongside the Oceanside Tauranga Half triathlon – which Smith has won twice – on Mount Maunganui in New Zealand.
It is one of the most scenic half marathons around – a two-lap coastal run which goes around the base track of Mount Maunganui (Mauao) anti-clockwise.
‘Was not expecting that’
And Smith, one of the big success stories in T100 racing, clocked a time of 1:11:27 for the challenging 13.1 miles which gave him the win by 13 seconds from top New Zealand distance runner Julian Oakley, who has a half marathon PB of 1:04:10 from Christchurch last year.
None other than reigning T100 men’s champion and fellow Kiwi Hayden Wilde crossed the line in 14th place after acting as the 1:20 pacer ahead of his competitive 2026 return.
But Smith later revealed that not only did the win come as a surprise but he also had to overcome some unwanted drama.
He explained on Instagram: “Cheeky wee half marathon win at the @taurangahalf happy with that after not much training. Was not expecting that.
“I went out with a plan to go out hard and hold on then a bee flew down my throat and stung the inside of my oesophagus with 4K to go. That’s a new one for me and the adrenaline got me home 😉 it’s okay though I’m still breathing fine.
“I love these events and thank you to everyone involved who work tirelessly to put these on for us. Chapeau.”
Smith needs to rebuild ranking
Smith was one of the top performers of the T100 in 2024, finishing runner-up in a sprint thriller in San Francisco, second again in London and then fourth in the Grand Final in Dubai to take second in the overall standings and a $140,000 bonus.
He then went on to finish a fine fourth in the IRONMAN World Championship on home turf in New Zealand.
But 2025 didn’t quite hit the same heights, though he still managed T100 top fives in San Francisco and Vancouver.
What he described as a “silly little low speed crash” ended his season prematurely and he will now be looking to build up his fitness ahead of his triathlon comeback.
Smith is one of a number of high-profile athletes – former IRONMAN World Champ Sam Laidlow is another – impacted by the recent change in the PTO rankings which now calculates the standings on the best four results over a 12-month period rather than best three.
Smith’s injury denied him the chance of competing in Qatar and he has dropped from 21st in the world to #102. Laidlow meanwhile was out of action for the first six months of 2025 and plummets from #16 to 100.
