Hayden Wilde of New Zealand reacts with winner Alex Yee of Great Britain during the men's individual triathlon in Paris. Photo: photosport
New Zealander Hayden Wilde's latest narrow triathlon defeat to arch-rival Alex Yee has come with none of the bonhomie that marked their Paris Olympic showdown.
Three weeks after the pair engaged in a thrilling finish at the Games - the result was the same at the opening race of the Supertri League in Boston, with British speedster Yee once again scorching past Wilde late in the run.
In Paris, 26-year-old silver medallist Wilde heaped praise on his rival, having sought to congratulate him moments after crossing the line.
It was a different story in Boston, with Olympic champion Yee seemingly rubbing in his victory by crossing his arms as he broke the finishing tape, just metres in front of Wilde, who was visibly riled by the act.
"Close isn't good enough. I think I've been seeing too many silvers in the last couple of weeks so it would be nice to get a gold so yeah, bring on Chicago," said Wilde, of the Supertri second-round race this week.
He also said he was unhappy about other events in the race, related to other riders not working hard enough on the bike.
"Just a bit of a shame the other boys didn't decide to come and do some work, yeah they were just hiding a bit and waiting for the run," Wilde said.
"I dunno, I don't really see that as racing, I was trying to call them through but they didn't want to go through and if I didn't keep pushing, the other boys would have turned up so…
"It's a bit of a shame to be honest but that's racing, that's their tactics and we'll come into Chicago and try and get the win there."
Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
The race format for the five-round Supertri league is a 300m sea swim, a 4km bike and a 1.6km run, three times in a row.