WHAKATĀNE'S Hayden Wilde capped off what was an incredible sporting weekend for New Zealand with his victory in the World Triathlon Championship Series final in Torremolinos, Spain.

It was a weekend in which the New Zealand women’s canoe polo team won gold, the Black Caps defeated India, the White Ferns won the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup, Ally Wollaston won gold in the women’s track cycling elimination race, the Silver Ferns smashed Australia in the opening clash of the Constellation Cup, New Zealand retained the America’s Cup and Liam Lawson was ninth in the US Grand Prix.

It was an awesome victory for Wilde, who crossed the line ahead of French athlete Leo Bergere and United Kingdom’s Alex Yee was third.

Wilde said his race plan, much like how he attacked in the Olympics, came off.

“I came out of the first lap in the swim in a good position. I came out, saw the front and had a plan just to sit off the fourth wheel. Leo went out like a bat out of hell, and I tried to get on his wheel then I realised I had a gap and was like, why not, and just went for it.

“We worked so well together; it was really, really cool. On the run, I was just waiting for my moment, and I gave it a little dig and got a wee gap, and then just kept driving.

“It was the same sort of plan I had for the Olympics, two laps hard, one lap easy and just bring it home. I had a nice gap to bring it home.”

Wilde is a bit frustrated he didn’t take out the series.

“I am disappointed to have finished third in the championships but to win here in the grand final is something special.”

He said it was a little bit of redemption from Paris, where Yee pipped him in the final few hundred metres, forcing him to settle for silver.

“It was more for Weihai. That course really suited me, and my bike legs didn’t turn up and today I finally turned up, with my bike legs back on and I was happy to execute all three disciplines really well.”

It was Wilde’s first World Triathlon Series Championship victory since Hamburg in 2023.

“I didn’t race too many times. This is my fourth world series this year and I paid the price for that in Weihai. I skipped Yokohama and if I look back and think I probably should have raced, but the goal was the Olympics just to execute here and get the confidence back was nice.”

Yee claimed the overall world series title.