Commonwealth Games 2022: How Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde could still claim gold medal after confusion and controversy

Hayden Wilde was denied a chance at a gold medal after a controversial penalty - but there could be a twist to the tale. Photo / Photosport

By Kris Shannon in Birmingham

Hayden Wilde admitted he was clueless. Alex Yee didn't know anything about it.

But both were certain of one thing following the men's triathlon: the real shame of the contentious finish was that the good friends and fierce rivals were denied the chance to race off for gold.

Confusion and controversy surrounded New Zealand's first medal of the Commonwealth Games, a silver won by Wilde that may, some time in the next month, turn to gold.

After the pre-race favourites had delivered what was promised and turned the triathlon into a dramatic two-man duel, the climax the event deserved was cruelly denied.

Wilde had picked up a 10-second time penalty in the transition between the bike and run legs, adjudged to have unclipped his helmet before completely racking his bike.

While replays were inconclusive, the resulting finish was anything but. As the two men made the final turn together at Sutton Park, Wilde gave his mate a fist bump, headed for the penalty box and watched his shot at gold disappear.

Or so he thought. About 30 minutes after Wilde had trudged down the home straight to accept his silver lining, after he had come to terms with second while still deeming the decision "a bit of a stitch up", word trickled out that New Zealand Triathlon had lodged a protest.

What was to follow left both Wilde and Yee perplexed but illustrated just how minor the alleged infraction had been.

Hayden Wilde waits for a 10 second penalty as Alex Yee wins the race. Photo / Photosport

After reviewing many angles of the incident for almost an hour, the race jury simply couldn't make a final call. The matter will now be "kicked up the chain", according to Wilde's coach Craig Kirkwood, and the Kiwi will have to wait.

Yee's gold will remain securely around his neck - and Wilde repeatedly stressed he had no intention of trying to change that - but if the protest is successful the two friends could share the triumph.

"It's happened before, that there's been a double gold medal," Wilde said. "We're amazing mates behind the scenes and we're great rivals on the course. I do not want to take that medal away from him - he absolutely deserves it.

"When I crossed the line, I told everyone that there was nothing we could do now. But it sounds like we can try to do something. I don't know too much about it.

"It's the first time I've been in this scenario so I'm as clueless as you guys."

Yee expressed similar sentiments, both about the process and his relationship with Wilde. After the Englishman had chased down the front-running Kiwi with a blistering run, the pair swapped a word and a smile at the top of a hill, with Yee later revealing the nature of the conversation.

"I said to him when I caught him, 'Sorry you got a penalty, mate. It's rubbish'. We want to race the race the hard way and the honest way.

"I don't know anything about the protest. I'm sorry for Hayden that it happened. I would have liked to have had a sprint finish."

New Zealand's Hayden Wilde congratulates England's Alex Yee. Photo / Photosport

So did just about everyone else in Birmingham. While Yee is a slightly stronger runner and showed as much, his success in catching Wilde was partly owing to canny tactics from his counterpart.

Having completed the swim of his life to emerge third from the water, Wilde extended his edge over Yee to 17 seconds on the bike leg. That was when the penalty was awarded, preventing Wilde from fully implementing a strategy that had counted on a final showdown.

"My game plan was to run conservatively on the first lap and I felt extremely good on the second lap," Wilde said. "I definitely had reserves in the tank for that sprint finish to come.

"It's a little bit anticlimactic that we couldn't have that sprint finish. Can I say I would have beaten him? No, not at all.

"It depends how much fuel he used to catch me up, because we run really similar and it normally comes down to a sprint finish."

Chances are, one day soon it will again. Given both men are 24 and poised to dominate the discipline for years to come, Wilde will continue using their battles as fuel to get better.

"To be on the podium with Alex again is awesome," he said. "I enjoy fighting every time. It makes me get up early in the morning to put those miles in - to try get on top."