By Kris Shannon in Paris
If the water in the Seine doesn’t make Hayden Wilde sick, what happened on its banks surely will.
Wilde has been once more edged by his good friend and great rival, run down by Alex Yee with mere metres remaining in an Olympic triathlon that had played out according to the Kiwi’s plan.
For all the focus on safety of the water running beneath it, Wilde had predicted the race could be settled by a two-man sprint on the Pont Alexandre III.
But just before the world’s best triathletes reached that landmark, having led by 15 seconds for much of run leg, Wilde saw Yee – and the gold medal – escape into the distance.
Both men moved up a step from the podium in Tokyo. For Yee, that elevation will be far beyond any runner’s high. For Wilde, this will be the most agonising of silvers.
The 26-year-old knew the 1.5km swim through the murky waters of the Seine would be unpleasant yet far from decisive. He predicted the field’s strong cyclists would attempt to separate themselves but a flat course would preclude that possibility.
Wilde believed this wouldn’t be a triathlon as much as a 10km sprint through the streets of Paris. The favourite: Yee, whose run had become almost unbeatable. The challenger: Wilde, having grown steadily stronger since winning bronze in 2021.
A year later, at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, when the pair had seemed set to sprint for gold, Wilde was denied by a contentious penalty.
Not today. At the end of almost certainly the the most picturesque triathlon in Olympic history, racing through the heart of the French capital, today he was denied by a better athlete.
The lead group featured 32 at the second transition, all that came before almost irrelevant, except for the internal toll it had taken on the athletes.
For Wilde, that had the potential to be influential. He had left the water a minute off the front and 30 seconds behind Yee, who summarily positioned himself nicely in a lead group of 19.
The gap remained around that margin until halfway through the 40-kilometre cycle, riding down the Avenue Winston Churchill, passing the Grand Palais, heading along the Champs-Elysees.
Wilde’s chase group connected – led by the selfless efforts of teammate Dylan McCullough – and history was now in sight. Every medal contender was grouped together as the bikes were racked but that was never going to last long.
Yee was immediately off the front, fellow Brit Sam Dickinson almost celebrating the sight, urging the crowd to infuse his compatriot with additional energy. As it turned out, Yee needed it.
After an early salvo, Wilde closed the gap before the first lap had been completed. Three to run, the rest of the field was an afterthought; this race had unfolded how he wanted.
Wilde weeks ago insisted he knew how to crack Yee. Standard self-assurance from an elite sportsperson or a quiet truth that would soon be shouted to the world?
For so long, it looked like the latter. Wilde made his move early in the second lap, creating a bit of breathing room, and for once, the previously unstoppable Yee didn’t respond.
Two seconds quickly turned into five, five turned to 10. Yee appeared to be labouring. Wilde looked like he had barely begun. With 5km to run, Wilde was 15 seconds ahead and 15 minutes from Olympic glory.
All that altitude training at his base in Andorra was paying off. All those miles on the track, all those sacrifices made. It was all for this.
One lap left, the bell rang, the lead still 14 seconds and Wilde more metronomic than ever.
Thoughts must have turned to the Pont Alexandre III, the most ornate bridge in the French capital, connecting the Champs-Elysees quarter with the Eiffel Tower.
History was surely his, following Hamish Carter as the only Kiwi to claim triathlon gold.
And then, in an instant, it wasn’t. The line tantalisingly close, Yee not only caught Wilde but ran right by him, turning on to the bridge and celebrating the hardest-fought win of his life.
Collapsing over the line, Wilde joined six seconds later, still finding time to congratulate his friend despite the pain. It will linger.
Kris Shannon has been a sport journalist since 2011 and covers a variety of codes for the Herald.
A three-week inquest in Hamilton is investigating the Olympian's death in 2021 aged 24.