For Hayden Wilde, it may have been safe to assume that he had served his fair share of bad luck.
At WTCS Abu Dhabi, in the opening race of the season, a mechanical ended his hopes of contending for the win. He nonetheless finished, claiming 46th place, but it was an unfortunate start to the year.
At the end of 2022, he had also suffered a slice of bad luck. A bout of COVID coincided with the WTCS Final at which he entered as the favourite to claim the world title. Whether the virus stopped him from securing the WTCS crown or not, it was certainly a piece of misfortune that he could down without.
Another issue came this summer as he caught the flu before WTCS Sunderland, although he managed to take 3rd place.
Then, at the Paris Olympic Test Event today, he was hampered again.
On the way to the race, Wilde crashed on his bike. He was able to dust himself down and make it to the start, however something was amiss.
In the swim, Wilde lost over a minute to the leaders and seemed off his usual levels. On the bike, he then stayed upright and seemed to regroup. He made it back up to the lead pack and was one of a handful of athletes to take a proactive approach off the front.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got.
Within the first couple of hundred metres of the run, Wilde stopped and had to sit. His crash before the race had caused a problem with his hip and he was therefore unable to run.
Although he tried to jog/walk for the rest of the lap, his race was over and he did not finish.
After wins at WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Hamburg, Wilde’s season has promised plenty. He remains in the hunt for the world title and on that front his destiny is in his own hands. A win at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra will guarantee the win. Indeed, any win over Alex Yee will likely be enough, assuming neither finish too far behind the likes of Vasco Vilaca.
Wilde’s DNF in Paris also prevented him from securing automatic qualification to the New Zealand Olympic team. A silver lining, though, will be that the New Zealand selection policy makes a near-certainty that he will be picked.
Of course he is not the only athlete that has encountered misfortune, however the recent frequency of such events has been somewhat unfortunate. If he can get things to go his way on a more consistent basis, he will no doubt be back in the thick of the fight for gold medals, where he belongs.
