Hayden Wilde crossing the line for first at the Super League Triathlon in London last Sunday. Photo / Super League Triathlon
Hayden Wilde crossing the line for first at the Super League Triathlon in London last Sunday. Photo / Super League Triathlon
If you hear shrieking from Bruce and Nita Wilde's Tūrangi home in the early hours of the morning, it means they're watching their grandson race again.
Chances are the pair are up late (or early, depending on how you look at it), to watch a livestream of Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Hayden Wilde, competing in a triathlon somewhere overseas.
The excitement certainly reached fever pitch in the Wildes' living room on the day that Hayden, 24, finished third in the men's triathlon at Tokyo to claim the bronze, and again very early last Monday morning when Hayden was first across the line at the Super League Triathlon Championships in London, beating long-time rivals Vincent Luis (France) and Britain's Jonathan Brownlee.
For his proud grandparents, watching Hayden go from strength to strength in triathlon over the past five years has been incredibly thrilling, albeit bittersweet after their son Andrew, Hayden's father, was killed in a topdressing accident 12 years ago. Hayden dedicated his medal win in Tokyo to his late father.
Bruce says Hayden took up triathlon only five years ago, after initially getting into orienteering and multisport thanks to the encouragement of one of his teachers at Trident High School in Whakatāne, who spotted his untapped potential.
Coming from a running and multisport background meant Hayden didn't learn to swim properly until he was about 16. He won the iconic two-day Coast to Coast at age 17 before switching to triathlon and going on to win his age group at the XTerra World Championship in Maui, Hawaii, twice.
Bruce and Nita Wilde in their office, covered in clippings and photographs of their medal-winning grandson Hayden Wilde. Photo / Supplied
"He [Hayden] ended up climbing right up the [triathlon] leaderboard to about fourth or fifth and the following year he was second behind Vincent Luis, the world No.1," a proud Bruce said on Tuesday.
Bruce said after Hayden and his Belgian girlfriend spent most of last year based at Lake Rotoma focusing on training due to Covid-imposed event cancellations, he decided to go his own way in the leadup to Tokyo. While the rest of the New Zealand high performance triathlon squad were training in Queensland, Hayden wanted to be out competing so instead flew to Europe to compete in triathlons in the UK and Austria.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Hayden finished the swim leg in 37th place, but gradually worked his way to the front group during the bike leg and from there had to keep pace with the other two leaders, Kristian Blummenfelt, of Norway, and Alex Yee, of Britain.
Hayden Wilde takes the bronze medal in the men's triathlon at the Tokyo Olympics in July. Photo / www.photosport.nz
Bruce says it was a big day in the Wilde household, with friends invited around and the race streamed to the TV from the Chromecast along with "a bit of screaming and yelling" at the technology while setting it all up.
He says Hayden's medal win was emotional for everybody.
"He revelled in getting that medal, all the emotions of those years and years of huge hours of training coming to a peak. It must be amazing to train for years and it all comes to pass coming to that finish line, knowing there's nobody else behind him."
Bruce says what made it more special was when Hayden dedicated his medal to his father Andrew.
"He was the most fantastic person that you could possibly come across."
After Andrew died, Bruce and Nita spent quite some time tracking down Andrew's birth mother, who now lives in Australia, and while she hasn't yet met her grandsons, she has joined what Bruce calls "the fan club" and follows Hayden's progress.
Hayden Wilde on his way to winning the Surfbreaker Triathlon in Tauranga in December 2019. Photo / Andrew Warner Bay of Plenty Times
Hayden raced a week later in Tokyo as the anchor for the New Zealand mixed relay triathlon team, along with Nicole van der Kaay, Tayler Reid and Ainsley Thorpe, that finished 12th overall. Then he was back on a plane, this time to Canada, to race in Montreal and Edmonton without placing, before his sensational win on Monday in London. Next up are three more Super League Triathlon races and you can bet his grandparents will be tuning in, either via subscription streaming service Triathlon Live, a livestream of the event or on YouTube, depending on where it's offered.
"We have to watch it on the computer and sit in the office. With the London [Super Triathlon] the ladies came on at about 10.30pm, they got cracking at about 11pm and when they were coming to the finish, the men were just lining up on the start."
Bruce says the London win was particularly significant because Frenchman Vincent Luis had been generally thought to be unbeatable.
Bruce says Hayden keeps in touch as his racing schedule permits and they hope he will be back in New Zealand by Christmas time. He jokes that the couple are Hayden's biggest fans and the home office has become something of a shrine, with the walls covered with photographs and newspaper clippings of Hayden's triathlon achievements. However, he's quick to add he and Nita are equally proud of all their grandsons. Hayden's two older brothers are Hamish, a radio broadcaster in Whakatāne, and Benjamin, a builder in Australia.
