Hayden Wilde appeared to upset with Alex Yee’s celebration at the finish (Picture: Getty)
Alex Yee insists Hayden Wilde was not bothered by his showboating after he won supertri’s opening race of the season.
Team GB star Yee delivered one of the most memorable moments of this summer’s Olympic Games as he mounted a stunning comeback to pip Wilde to triathlon gold in Paris.
History repeated itself last month as Yee once again stormed past Wilde in the closing stages of the 10km run to seal a thrilling victory on the streets of Boston.
With the finishing line in sight, an overjoyed Yee began thumping his chest before performing a Kylian Mbappe-esque, crossed-arms celebration, which appeared to irk Wilde.
Some even accused Yee of tarnishing his gold-medal triumph with his ‘classless’ and ‘arrogant’ behaviour, which came after Wilde’s heart-warming display of sportsmanship at the Olympics.
But according to Yee, Wilde said he was simply upset with the result rather than his celebration when he spoke with the New Zealander following the drama.
‘It was just excitement,’ Yee said at the School Games National Finals when asked about his celebration.
‘For me, triathlon is my way of expression and the fact we were able to show some personality, we don’t get that very often within our sport.
‘We get two minutes after a race to kind of show who we are and a little bit of social media but apart from that our expression comes from the race course.
‘I think I was just excited – to be out of the race with probably a mile to go and then to be able to come back and win was just excitement.
Wilde had to settle for second place behind Yee in Boston (Picture: Getty)
‘The first thing I did when I realised that he wasn’t appreciative of what I did was make sure that he was fine.
‘And to be honest, he said to me that it wasn’t about the celebration, it was more about the outcome.
‘That gave me peace of mind that we are able to express ourselves and celebrate because hundreds of other sports are doing that and are celebrated for it.’
Yee believes the sport of triathlon is in a very healthy place and is delighted to be ‘leading the way’ with his Kiwi rival.
‘I’d like to think that it is the most competitive that triathlon has ever been at and I think it’s amazing that Hayden and I can lead the way with that,’ he added.
‘There are 55 amazing other guys who are working amazingly hard to get there.
‘But it’s really cool to be leading the way with Hayden.’
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