Hayden Wilde has become the first New Zealand male to win the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand, but was too quick to celebrate.
The Paris Olympic silver medallist and supertri champion won the 30th anniversary edition of the 1.8km swim, 55km bike, 12km run event by three minutes from countryman Tayler Reid.
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Wilde was so far ahead he even caught race volunteers on the hop at the finish chute.
They weren’t ready for the flying Kiwi so Wilde mimicked grabbing an imaginary finishing tape and lifting it over his head, waiting on the course side of the line while the locals belatedly scrambled into position.
Wilde crossed the line with a real life tape in hand in a time of 2:19:03. Reid was runner-up in 2:22:13 with Ukraine’s Rostyslav Pevtsov the bronze medal in 2:23:03.
He’s the second Kiwi to triumph at the beach resort tri after three-time women’s champion Amelia Watkinson (2022, 2017, 2016).
The Andorra-based Bay of Plenty 27-year-old Wilde is building up to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Taupo on December 14 (women) and 15 (men).
Wilde is scheduled to line up in the open category standard distance race at Triathlon Tauranga’s Tinman Triathlon next Sunday (Nov.24) in his final hit out before Taupo.
For Reid, second place follows a silver medal in Noosa and seventh at WTCS Torremolinos and saw an end to his long-standing relationship with coach Stephen Sheldrake, the pair parting ways due to Sheldrake’s role in the Tri NZ High Performance set-up.