Every second literally does count in Super League Triathlon, and no race embodies that more than the 2021 Championship Series race in Munich.
You can now go behind the scenes to watch how controversy raged as Hayden Wilde saw his hopes of following up that London win derailed in acrimonious style. The storyline plays out in the latest episode of the new documentary series ‘Every Second Counts’.
First the Kiwi complained that Vincent Luis had gained a draft benefit from the [TV] motorbike at the head of the race. But then, to compound that, he found out he’d been incorrectly held in the blocks for an extra EIGHT SECONDS before setting off on the time trial.
Hayden Wilde on timing error
He said: “As an athlete I don’t wanna use any excuse. I wanna be beaten by the better man. To have a disadvantage off the bike in the TT – yeah, I was pretty p***ed off.
“I got back into the tent to warm down. I rode really hard, something was up 100%. So I watched the replay again, started from Jonny to see if that was right, Vince was 10 seconds behind. Yeah, they launched me 18 seconds behind Vincent.
“That was crucial timing. In Super League every second counts and to be launched out eight seconds behind, obviously was pretty gutting.
“I do remember in Malta, I crashed around a corner. He came up to me and he was like ‘I hope you’re okay, I hope you’re 100% because I need someone to push me out there’.
“From that day, when he said that, it’s been like my endeavour to take his throne.”
Macca on Wilde development
That steely mentality and burning desire so evident in Wilde is no surprise according to Super League co-founder and two-time IRONMAN World Champion Chris McCormack. He says it re-iterates the fact that the Olympic bronze medallist has truly arrived at the top.
“It’s been really really exciting to watch Hayden grow up in our series. From the young kid who came to Jersey and outsprinted Mario Mola for seventh or eighth place – the current world champion at the time – to the realisation now after winning the Olympic bronze medal that he is one of those guys he was looking up to, he is a player.
“That switch in the mindset of an athlete changes everything.”
You can watch every second of the documentary by clicking on the YouTube embed below.
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