😤 It’s been a tough fortnight for Hayden Wilde.

First there was ‘Shoegate’ that flared in the aftermath of his third successive T100 win on the French Riviera after he ran with prototype ASICS that weren’t commercially available but now are. The following day it was the discipline sans shoes that got him into trouble, a lousy swim ending in 11th in the WTCS sprint at the same venue. 

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Andorra-based Kiwi was hit by a car heading to WTCS Karlovy Vary last weekend and unsurprisingly found himself off the pace again out of the water in the Czech Republic to eventually finish 17th. The pre-race incident was doubly scary as the impact was on Wilde’s “bad side” – presumably the left side so badly mangled in his May 4 Tokyo training ride crash that left him with a smashed scapula, five broken ribs and lung damage.

WATCH T100 OROPESA LIVE: Sky Sport Select, 6:45pm Saturday (NZ Time)  

It was a credit to Wilde that he publicly apologised for the “honest mistake” surrounding his shoe choice in France, to the point where he offered to DQ himself and return the prize money. That won’t be necessary, World Triathlon insist, but the focus of public scrutiny is still intense.

Even in the countdown to this Saturday’s T100 Oropesa Del Mar, the double Olympic medallist has been on the defensive, compelled to respond to criticism of the hydration/water bottle set-up on his TT bike that some have used to call his previous Singapore and London wins into question.

All Wilde can do?

“Just keep turning up 😤” as he wrote on social media earlier this week, with an emoji for emphasis. 

He’ll do so on Saturday in a race where Jelle Geens, the current T100 series leader, has called out the 28-year-old, saying he “badly” wants and needs to beat the Kiwi.

Wilde will no doubt let his bike power and run speed be his retort in Spain, though it won’t mask his swimming which remains a work on, albeit not so critical over the 100km distance.

 “This week its @t100triathlon Oropesa, with a lot of fire in my belly, I’m super keen to execute and string [a] race [together] over the three disciplines,” Wilde said on social.  

“It’s no secret my swimming just isn’t on par with the lads in World Series at the moment. I know when I turn up currently it’s going to be a coin toss. 2:00 down after the swim just isn’t good enough but I kept trying and pushed hard on the bike [in Karlovy Vary] to keep the gap solo. DNF wasn’t on the cards [as] I wanted to respect the athletes, respect the race and the people that come out to watch.   

“After my best ever hour of power, I was able to still run strong off the bike. I can take away a lot of positives but also a lot of weaknesses which is clearly obvious but unfortunately, this will take time.”

In addition to the PTO No.1’s “me against the world” efforts, Kiwi fans will cheer on Kyle Smith and Hannah Berry from afar on Saturday evening.

Smith, the PTO No.8 who is 9th overall in the season standings, is still to find his best form in 2025 with a DNF in London and 12th at French Riviera following more encouraging top fives in San Fran and Vancouver to start his year.

Like Smith, Berry is also inside the top-10 bubble who earn repeat T100 contracts for 2026. She enters London 9th in the women’s standings after highly satisfactory results in Singapore (4th), London (9th) and French Riviera (6th).

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