Hayden Wilde wins World Triathlon Championship Super Sprint title in Hamburg

New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde has been crowned World Triathlon’s Super Sprint champion after winning a thrilling final race in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday (Sunday NZT).

In front of a large crowd that included IOC President Thomas Bach, the Olympic bronze medallist broke clear on the first lap of the 1.75km run to come home in a time of 19 minutes and 26 seconds, just ahead of Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça and Britain’s Alex Yee, who both clocked 19min 28sec.

Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, the reigning Olympic champion, finished fourth in 19min 32sec. Wilde’s compatriot Tayler Reid was 11th.

The three-stage Super Sprint format consists of a 300m swim, a 7.5km bike ride and a 1.75km run. Wilde had toiled on the first stage swim and had plenty of work to do on the bike to get himself back into title contention.

He did just that, gaining precious seconds on his main competitors before sealing the deal with an outstanding third leg.

“I had to do some work in that first round and the legs weren’t feeling too good, but I was a bit more relaxed in the second out front,” Wilde said as he reflected on his triumph.

“My tactic was always to try and get a couple of seconds swinging round into transition and get away.

“Everyone’s upping their game and starting that race it was always going to be difficult to get it done.”

Despite the victory, Wilde remains in second place on the World Triathlon Championship series standings after five races with 2822.46 points, behind Portugal’s Vilaça (2938.18 points).

“This year has been amazing, better than I could have expected. This is where I want to be and I’m still missing that win but it’s the third podium this season and I’m very happy with it,” Vilaça said.

The women’s elite race was won by France’s Cassandre Beaugrand, who held off Britain’s Beth Potter.

New Zealand’s Nicole van der Kaay finished in sixth place.