Commonwealth Games triathlon 2022: Follow all the latest updates
A beautiful sporting moment took a turn after New Zealand appealed a penalty handed down to their triathlete in a situation that could result with two gold medals being awarded.
There is a push to have two gold medals awarded in the men’s triathlon with England’s Alex Yee describing the penalty which handed him victory as “rubbish”.
New Zealand have protested against the 10-second penalty awarded against silver medallist Hayden Wilde for an infringement on the bike transition, which ultimately cost him victory.
Wilde and Yee ran together over the final stages before the New Zealander had to stand in the penalty box at the top of the home straight, allowing the Englishman to stroll over the finish line.
“I’m sorry for Hayden, it happened - I don’t know more about it (the protest),” Yee said. “I said when I caught him, ‘I’m sorry you got the penalty, it’s rubbish’.
“We want to race the hard way, the honest way - it’s a shame, but it’s still special to share that moment at the end.”
There is a 30-day window for the protest decision to be handed down with Wilde saying there was a precedent in the sport of double golds.
“I don’t want to take away that medal - he (Yee) absolutely deserves it,” Wilde said. “It has happened before that there’s been a double gold medal, so we’ll see what happens.
“If we both get a gold medal, that’s awesome. But if not, I won’t be disappointed with a silver medal.”
The post-race chaos has overshadowed what many hailed as an incredible moment of sportsmanship when Wilde, understanding he had a penalty, yielded first place so Yee could cross the line first.
Wilde headed to the penalty box for 10 seconds - the time penalty he was hit with after taking his helmet off a split second before he’d put his bike in its rack.
“I think it’s unfair but that’s racing at the end of the day,” Wilde said.
“I saw I had a penalty, which is debatable, but that’s racing. I know exactly what I did, so expecting we’ll go ahead and do a protest but there’s nothing else we can do about it.
“I knew exactly what it was – which is extremely debatable.
“I had to weigh up ‘Do I get disqualified, and then protest, or do I get that second place?’, and I’m not going to risk that for my country.”
In third place was Matthew Hauser who claimed Australia’s first medal of the Games.
“My coach was there through the first half (of the run) yelling out Hayden has got a penalty and I was like, ‘I’m just trying to hang onto third here mate, crickey’,” Hauser said.
“I could see him waiting (in the penalty box) and did all I can, I emptied the tank that’s for sure. I was hoping for him to do a bit more of a celebration towards the end and for me to sneak through to second.”
Hauser is confident he can be a part of the new generation - Yee, Wilde and the Australian are all 24 years of age - which has taken over triathlon over the past couple of years.
“I knew I would be up there with them, I have been challenging them for half the year. It was really good to be in the race and know where that ceiling is,” he said.
“Fourth by two seconds on the Gold Coast, I would have liked to switch around at my home Games but it’s nice to get the job done here in Birmingham four years later.”
His Australian teammate Jacob Birtwhistle, who won the silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, grabbed fourth in an impressive turnaround in form.
“I haven’t had the best season so far so that for sure has been my most complete swim, bike and run,” he said. “It would have been nice to be a bit further up there and get up on the podium with Matt but at the end of the day I’m pretty happy with that.”
Hauser was consistent throughout the sprint distance event - 750m swim, 20km ride and 5km run - coming out of the water in sixth, maintaining that spot on the bike before powering to third on the run leg.
It was a similar story for Birtwhistle who exited the water in 17th position, moved to eighth on the bike and then to fourth.
The third Aussie, Games debutant Brandon Copeland, finished 22nd.
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