Photo: T100 London
Just 98 days after a devastating crash in Japan left him with a punctured lung, four fractured ribs, and a broken scapula, Hayden Wilde has stunned the triathlon world with a phenomenal win at the T100 London event.
In what can only be described as a superhuman performance, Wilde proved he’s back to his best—putting months of pain and uncertainty behind him.
“This was the first swim, bike, run I’d done since Singapore… Three months without doing it, so I was a little bit cautious,” Wilde said emotionally at the finish line.
Wilde exited the 2km swim in 14th place, 56 seconds behind the leaders—a strong result given the lingering effects of his shoulder injury. He then surged through the field during the 80km bike leg, moving into second place by the 30km mark and holding that position behind Rico Bogen into T2.
It took just one and a half laps of the run for Wilde to erase Bogen’s 1:15 lead, and from there, he never looked back—taking the lead with 11.4km to go and powering home to finish more than a minute ahead of Mika Noodt in second and Jelle Geens in third.
“I wasn’t afraid of the race at all… I’m used to racing these guys,” Wilde said post-race. “But it was just more like… you have a big injury, you’re off for three months, and you have those negative thoughts in your mind where you’re like, ‘Ah, can I actually get back to that level?’”
The answer was emphatic. Even triathlon legend Jan Frodeno called it one of the greatest comebacks in sport.
With two wins from two starts in the T100 Race to Qatar, Wilde now sits fifth in the standings on 70 points, with five races remaining. (Note: the Valencia T100 event has been cancelled, with a replacement venue to be announced for the same weekend.)
Current Men’s Standings:
- 1st Mika Noodt – 93 points
- 2nd Jelle Geens – 90 points
- 3rd Rico Bogen – 84 points
Also
- 5th Hayden Wilde – 70 points
- 8th Kyle Smith (NZL) – 43 points
Earlier in the day, Lucy Charles-Barclay dominated the women’s race, finishing nearly a minute ahead of Kate Waugh, with Taylor Knibb a further 3:16 behind. New Zealand’s Hannah Berry delivered a solid performance, finishing 9th in 3:45:36.
Current Women’s Standings:
- 1st Julie Derron – 96 points
- 2nd Kate Waugh – 90 points
- 3rd Taylor Knibb – 90 points
Also
- 12th Hannah Berry (NZL) – 35 points
