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June 29, 2024 • 13 mins

Kiwi triathlete Hayden Wilde is aiming for gold ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Wilde was named to race is his second Olympics this week, and hope to top his bronze medal-winning performance in Tokyo.

He joined Piney to discuss the lead-up weeks out from Paris.

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
But I want to start with triathlon and official confirmation
at the start of this week that our top triathlete
Hayden Wild is heading to his second Olympic Games. Of
course he got on the podium in Tokyo.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
What a magical finish and.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Ye will take silver for Great Britain. And what about that.
Hayden Wild the bronze bronze medalist and the men's individual
event at the last Olympic Games, and two years ago
at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games he was a silver medallist.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
So Hayden Wild makes a turn for home, he is
in the lead. Is he aware of the penalty? Who knows?
But for now Hayden Wild of New Zealand is going
to come through and lead Alex Ye just by the
smallest of margins. But unfortunately for Hayden Wild, he will
have to serve this ten second penalty. And look at
that good sportsmanship. I think we'll look back on that

(01:06):
with botness. Hayden Wild has high five PELIXI he's well
aware of the penalty. He's clapped the home town hero
home Hayden Wild is now coming through to finish second
and silver, just fourteen seconds behind. Haveing suved that excruciating
ten second.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Penalty here, so bronze and Tokyo silver and Birmingham targeting
gold no doubt in Paris, and overnight Hayden Wild has
cruised to victory in Bordeaux, his last race before next
month's Olympic Games. I spoke to Hayden Wild earlier this week.
He was at altitude in Andorra as he was continuous preparations,

(01:48):
and I asked Hayden while, first of all, what the
final few weeks offers build up to Paris will consist of?

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, thanks for having me on the show. I think
the next few weeks is, yeah, is going to be
the most important parts. You know, got to race in
actually the south of France and the sweet Kent just
to kind of do the final preparations and see where
everything is at. And then yeah, here up in altitude
at two thy four hundreds until the end of about

(02:16):
the seventeenth of July, just kind of getting those little
marginal gains kind of before the big dance, and it's
just kind of fine tuning the things like Simbo can
run this shoup and the tools up a bit of
the top end speed and then yeah, just make sure
I wrap myself up in bubble wrap and get myself
at the start line and one hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
How much of the preparation that led to your bronze
and Tokyo are you looking to replicate for Powis or
was it just entirely different because of COVID et cetera.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Yeah, I think it's completely different with COVID and whatnot.
But in some ways we have similarly replicated some of
the training in a positive light. Some of the trainings
that we have replicated, I'm doing a heicul of a
lot better now, which is really positive and satisfying. I
guess the the major difference is obviously I'm based here

(03:08):
in Europe. I'm able to race and have competitions before
the Olympics, not like Tokyo. And yeah, the biggest change
would probably be the altitude, trying to get those extra
gains up here.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
When you're looking for marginal gains, but what could be
really important gains come paris? What do you drill down
into where are you looking to make those those important gains?

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, it's it's extremely hard to know, you know, Alex
and I think, you know, if we do come off
the bike together, it's we're very evenly matched. But for
me has been a really high focused area has been
probably the swim. I guess personally like whenever I get
onto a start line. In some ways my kind of

(03:55):
race does come down to chance, and you know, we
just hope and cross our fingers that I get to
the front pack. And you know, I'm really you know,
stoked and positive. That's ninety percent of the time. Ninety
five percent of time it does all come together and
super super lucky to have real good bike legs and
run run off the bike with you know, a pretty

(04:16):
hard bike in the legs. So I'd like to hopefully
change that and you obviously having a full focus and
having a really big swim base coming into this one,
you know, I obviously spend less energy, might be a
bit more efficient to the water, be a bit more
efficient on the bike to then give me the good
legs on the day to hopefully put out a performance,

(04:39):
hopefully too better than I did in Tokyo.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
There's doubt, of course around the swim leg with the
Sane River being cleaned up, I think they're spending about
one point five billion to try and get it clean.
Is there any possibility the triathlon might become a Jewethlon?
What are you hearing? What's the latest you're hearing on that.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, I've kind of actually just been staring away a
bit from the media about it's just because I, you know,
I don't want to be an Olympic champion as a
jee athlete. I want to be an Olympic champion as
a triathlon So I haven't changed any of my training
thinking about us a jewathlon or anything about that. I've
just kind of been really working on my process and

(05:18):
you know, just just staying positive and being confident that
the Paris will be ready for us in forty days time.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And I think you swum in the scene in the
test event last year, didn't you. How did you find it?

Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah? It was great. It was actually didn't get sick,
which is positive. And yeah, I think it's a very
it's actually a very tough swim technically and mentally. It's
a it's a it's actually current to the sisted going
into the water. So for example, if you know your

(05:51):
swim splits, we did four hundred and fifty meters in
four minutes, which is you know, for example, if you
look at swimming pool, it's you know, it's fast than
the world record in the four hundred meter and we did,
you know, four hundred and fifty meters, So it's extremely quick,
current assisted, but we turn around and we get hit

(06:11):
by a lot of flying water, which makes life hard.
So it's extremely important to be in a really good
position in that first kind of boy turn at four
hundred and fifty meters, knowing where you are trying to
kind of hide yourself behind other athletes to kind of
get their wake to set you up pretty well for
the obviously for the rest of the race. So yeah,

(06:31):
I think positioning is going to be extremely important when
it comes to the swim.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
You mentioned Alex before Great Britain to Alex Chey, of
course your main rival. Two of you have been stride
for stride many times over the last few years in
various different events. What are you going to have to
do really well to beat them?

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah? I think you know, we had a race about
a month ago in Kaghliari and I came away from
that race second place with the sprint finish. Once again,
just a second behind, But I came away with that
race with a lot of knowledge and I think personally,
I know what I need to do to if you know,

(07:07):
if Alex and I do come off the bike together,
I think I know what I need to do. So,
you know, the last month of training that I've had
here in Andorra, it's been like really specific, but I
think it's really coming down to being more efficient in
the water to save more energy on the bike, and
then coming onto the run just being as good as possible.

(07:31):
There is so many, I guess, uncontrollables. You cannot control
it in a trithlon. You know we have It's not
just that I guess that Alex and Hayden show. You
know we have we come and we're in France and
we've got three world champions on the French team. We've
got the X you know, Olympic medalist from Tokyo. He's
going to be there as well, Christian, And yeah, I

(07:51):
think personally it's going to be They're going to do
all they can to not let us get into the
front group, to make it a to make it a
running battle between Alex and I. But yeah, as I said,
like if it does come down to the transition and
Alex and I are in the front group and we're
so by side. It's going to be quite the battle.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
I think absolutely. And of course you'll join Dylan McCulloch,
Nicole Vander Kay and Ainsley Thorpe in the in the
mixed team's relay as well. How do you rate your
chances of improving on the twelfth place that you achieved
in Tokyo.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah, for me personally, it's going to be a lot different.
You know this this this time coming around. It's really
nice how world trifle and does it where every Olympic cycle,
the the relay gets reversed. So for example, I was
actually the finishing league in Tokyo, and you know we're
a bit behind at that point. But this year, sorry,

(08:43):
this cycle round, it's actually the ladies finishing it off,
which is kind of gives it a little bit of
a unique standpoint. So yeah, like the ladies in really
good shape at the moment, I think in mixed team
relay form. I know I've talked to them a few
times and they haven't been too happy with their long
distance performances, but I've seen how they've been doing their

(09:03):
relays and it looks you know, they're looking extremely well
and you know, I think we've actually got a good
chance of them keeping us into the race. And Nicole,
the way she's running at the moment is phenomenal. You know,
she's posted some of the fastest run times over the
last couple of races. So it's actually really satisfying and
nice to see that we've got a really good anchor
league potentially. And yeah, Dylan as well. You know, he's

(09:27):
had an absolute blinder of the end of season in
twenty twenty three, and he had a great start to
the New Zealand season and the Oceanian season and this
will be his first Olympics as well, so that new
experience and just being hungry and just going for it,
I think is going to be really nice. And yeah,
of course, like if anything happens between you know, Dylan
and I, we've got Taylor there as a reserve, and

(09:48):
you know, he's extremely experienced and he's a very very
good relay athlete. So I feel like we've got a
really good opportunity if everything goes right in the really,
I think we've got a good chance of doing something
special as this team, all right, and.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
You got to seem tanner with you. I know you've
been training with them at various stages. So is he
puts the final preparations on his fifteen hundred meter of
preparation to see with you at altitude up.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
There on endoor. Yeah, he actually just tharrived a few
days ago with coach Craig. So yeah, he'll be here
for another few days. He's had it, but more of
a different preparation staying at home for a little bit longer.
But yeah, I think he's really pumped to be here.
And we did it last year and he was in
good shape here and I wish him all the best.

(10:30):
And we'll be training side by side and I'll be
helping him expand his engine on the run and he
would be helping me expand my topping speed. So we're
really cater for both of both of each.

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Other outstanding and just to finish if we circle back
as we sit here today, Hayden, with the Olympics, you know,
starting to loom large overall. Are you where you want
to be? How do you feel?

Speaker 3 (10:52):
Man? Yeah, I've actually really satisfied of where I am.
If I was actually talking to a friend a couple
of days ago, and you know, if the Olympics was
tomorrow and I looked at my prip my builds, I
honestly didn't change anything. I've been really enjoying the process.
I feel super confident in my ability where I am

(11:13):
at the moment, and just really happy and just enjoying
the in training and just enjoying the process and the
people around me. And we've got such a great environment
up here, and just learning a lot about myself and
coming into this and I just don't feel I just
don't feel that pressure. I feel there's other athletes and
the race that have actually got a lot more precied
than I have, Like you know, the French have the home,

(11:36):
the home nation, Christians, the Olympic Bronze Middleists, the Olympic Middleist,
sorry Tokyo, And I think Alex has got that kind
of hot favorite coming into this one. And I just
feel like I'm in a great position and just going
to be just going to do what I need to
do on the day.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
Exciting times. All the best for the reminder of repreparation, Hayden,
thanks for having a chat. We can't wait to see
how Paris turns out for you mate. Thanks for the chat.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yes, thank you.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
That is Hayden Wild who I spoke to earlier this week.
You couldn't chat live to us because he had that
race in Bordeaux and the timing was a bit It's difficult,
but great to get the chance to chat to one
of our real gold medal prospects. He really is Bronze
and Tokyo. That was probably unexpected and you could even tell.
I think when he got the bronze medal, you remember
that very emotional post race interview that he did having

(12:25):
lost his father and just the enormity of what he
had achieved. But now fast forward to twenty twenty four
and he is an absolute gold medal hope. He and
Alex Ye have just gone stride for stride in so
many different triathlon events over the last two or three years.
So yeah, he is absolutely one to watch. Dylan McCulloch

(12:48):
is the other male competitor in the men's individual triathlon.
The Cole Van de Kay and Ainsley Thorpe are in
the women's individual. The men's is first, the women's the
following day, and then about five days after that it's
the team's event, and all four of them Dylan McCulloch,
Haylen Wild, Nicole Vanderkay and Ainsley Thorpe will line up
in the Teams event as well, so looking forward to

(13:08):
seeing how they go when Paris rolls around.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to news talks at B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
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