🔥 After what will be more than two years and several false starts in between times, the much-anticipated replay of the epic Hayden Wilde v Alex Yee Paris Olympic Games gold medal mano-a-mano has a fresh date.
But could Wilde’s entry into the September 6 Supertri Pro Series Final in Jersey, notwithstanding the lure of the Yee battle, the US$100,000 ($NZ171,500) winner’s cheque and a potential Matthew Hauser plot twist, merely be a precursor to a much more intriguing story?
Like how Wilde’s calendar, so disrupted in 2026 by illness, could include huge races every weekend in September?
That looks to be the case after Supertri confirmed the Kiwi’s entry for the rapid-fire league’s finale in Jersey in what is being billed as the richest single day in triathlon history courtesy of a combined $800,000 purse.
If Wilde’s previous plans stand, the Whakatāne 28-year-old is scheduled to kick on from Jersey to the contest the Ironman 70.3 worlds in Nice the following Sunday, September 13. Then he has T100 French Riviera in St Raphaël and Fréjus on September 19 to maintain his series lead in the ‘Race to Qatar’, before his World Triathlon ranking of 45 should ensure a start in the WTCS season finale in Pontevedra, Spain on September 27 even though he’s ineligible for the world title.
That’s three back-to-back-back rounds of super-sprint racing in Jersey, 113km in Nice, 100km in St Raphaël and Fréjus and a standard distance 51.5km in Pontevedra. At the very highest level of the sport after a year marked by illness, most recently inflammation around his lungs.
That forced his withdrawal from WTCS London, after earlier WD’s from WTCS Alghero and Quiberon. Combined, it means if Wilde does race in Pontevedra, it will be for critical world and LA28 Olympic ranking points as he hasn’t raced sufficient WTCS rounds to qualify for the world title.
Only time will tell if he lines up in all four September races. Two things are certain if he does, all four will be appointment viewing and the Supertri showdown with Yee especially so.
Supertri Pro Series Context
Per Supertri’s media release, the “two great rivals have not shared a start line since the Supertri Grand Final in NEOM on November 3, 2024, where Yee outsprinted Wilde by a single second in a classic finish, even as Wilde clinched the overall 2024 Supertri series crown. It was the closing chapter of a golden year for the pairing that also produced the unforgettable Paris 2024 Olympic final, where Yee reeled in a 14-second deficit over the closing kilometres to overhaul the long-time leader and win gold by just six seconds, with Wilde taking silver.
What followed sent the two of them down very different roads. Yee stepped away from swim-bike-run for much of 2025 to chase a long-held running ambition, clocking 2:11:08 on his marathon debut in London before returning to short-course action along with a Diamond League appearance this year. Wilde recovered from injuries sustained after a bike accident in 2025 and has focussed on longer distance racing with his planned short course comeback having been hampered by illness.
In the rivals’ absence, Hauser seized his moment. The Australian was crowned 2025 WTCS Champion on home soil in Wollongong. Hauser was already confirmed for Jersey; with Wilde now on the list, the Pro Series Final brings together the reigning Olympic champion, the reigning world champion and the man who has pushed Yee closer than anyone, all racing head-to-head over Supertri’s relentless format.”
