New Zealand champion Hayden Wilde has shown his class after missing on an Olympic gold medal in a thrilling finish to the men’s triathlon on Wednesday.
Wilde looked like a certain winner after pulling away in the gruelling run, but British star Alex Yee came from nowhere in the final kilometre to seal a stunning gold.
Yee improved on his silver medal from Tokyo, winning the 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run event in one hour 43 minutes 33 seconds.
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Wilde was four seconds back for silver, while Leo Bergere of France won bronze.
Aussie Matt Hauser was well-placed in a big lead group after the bike, but he dropped back before rallying on the run, breaking back into the top 10 and finishing seventh.
Hauser was trying to become the first Australian to reach the podium in the men’s race since the sport made its Olympic debut at Sydney 2000.
But the drama was at the front where Yee stormed home with an incredible finish.
Despite watching the gold medal taken from his grasp, Wilde showed his class by embracing the exhausted champion at the finish line.
Yee spent several minutes recovering after the gruelling event, which finally went ahead after months of uncertainty surrounding the swim leg.
But it was the strong River Seine current, not water pollution, that was the key problem for competitors on Wednesday morning as the sport was able to finally set aside months of drama.
It culminated in organisers postponing the men’s race from Tuesday to after the women’s race, won by French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand, who collapsed in a heap at the finish line.
Australians Sophie Linn and Natalie Van Coevorden said they struggled with the Seine current.
“It was more about the current than the actual dirtiness of the water by the end,” Van Coevorden said.
“It was way stronger than the test event last year. I think that really caught us off guard on the first lap but everyone was kind of panicking a bit.
“I got drowned about 100 times in that swim so I probably drank about 10 bottles of water. But we’ve got the right medical staff to get us on top of it and back to racing on Monday (in the mixed team relay).”
Linn agreed it was the strongest current she had been confronted with in a swim.
Overnight and morning rain also made conditions treacherous on the bike and Van Coevorden was lucky not to be caught up in a crash that felled several other competitors.
The roads had dried out by the time the men’s raced started.
Beaugrand broke clear in the last 2km to win the women’s race in 1:54:55, with Swiss Julie Derron six seconds behind for silver.
British star Beth Potter was another nine seconds back for the bronze and Emma Lombardi, also from France, was the other member of the lead group and finished fourth.
Linn finished 21st and Van Coevorden was 42nd out of 51 finishers, with several competitors crashing out on the bike.
– With AAP