Hayden Wilde was understandably frustrated after another close defeat by his arch rival Alex Yee in supertri’s opening race in Boston.
The New Zealander saw Yee conjure an incredible late rally to overhaul him for Olympic gold in Paris and it was more of the same when they crossed the Atlantic.
Another iconic image
This time though, Yee looked to be on cruise control as he powered past in the closing stages before replicating football superstar Kylian Mbappé’s folded arms celebration as he crossed the line, something which took the event to a far wider audience as a number of major mainstream outlets picked up on it.
Whether it was a sign of Yee’s growing confidence having become Olympic champion or just a bit of showmanship, it was all good news for the sport which needs rivalries and characters to help it grow.
The photo of Wilde congratulating Yee as they sat on the blue carpet in Paris did exactly that too as it became one of the iconic images of the Games.
This time though the Kiwi appeared a little bemused – though in his post-race interview it was his frustration over the tactics of others on the bike which come out.
When Annie Emmerson started by saying ‘you were so close’, he replied: “Close isn’t good enough. I think I’ve been seeing too many silvers in the last couple of weeks so it would be nice to get a gold so bring on Chicago [the next supertri race].”
‘They were waiting for the run’
And he then referenced the final bike section where he was largely left alone on the front, with the leading six of himself, team-mate Vincent Luis, Yee, Tim Hellwig, Dorian Coninx and Sergio Baxter Cabrera having a buffer to the rest.
“It was nice to have Vincent up there, we played a good team tactic.
“I didn’t expect him to come through but it was just a bit of a shame the other boys didn’t decide to come and do some work, yeah they were just hiding a bit and waiting for the run.
“I don’t really see that as racing, I was trying to call them through but they didn’t want to go through and if I didn’t keep pushing, the other boys [the chase group] would have turned up.
“It’s a bit of a shame to be honest but that’s racing, that’s their tactics and we’ll come into Chicago and try and get the win there.”
