Less than two weeks after watching his countrymen and women claim Dubai Sevens glory as a fan, Hayden Wilde hopes to claim more gold for New Zealand in the Gulf.
The 28-year-old Kiwi is in pole position for the title when he competes at the Qatar T100 World Championship Final in Doha on Friday.
The event is the culmination of the nine-race professional triathlon world tour. Despite suffering serious injury in May, Wilde has built up a healthy lead at the top of the standings in the Race to Qatar, having won five of his six races in the series.
If he finishes on the podium at the race in Doha, he will be assured of the overall title, and a $250,000 pay day.
His lone failure to win on the global series was around the streets of Dubai last month. He has spent the intervening time training in Abu Dhabi, in a bid to acclimatise for the season finale just across the Arabian Gulf in Qatar.
While all his focus was on training, his stay in the capital was not all business. He allowed himself a trip up the E11 to watch the Dubai Sevens, where his compatriots enjoyed a unique title double.
“It was good to get a win over the Aussies as well, as I know the girls haven't won [in Dubai for six years] so it was cool,” Wilde said.
“I last watched the boys in Singapore, and I know the team quite well. I work out on the same gym as them in Tauranga. They have a very new team, so to see them perform really well was cool.”
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Wilde might have been among those rugby players had life worked out a little differently. While he still trains in the same gym as them, instead he follows a pursuit which has brought him a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and bronze in the preceding Tokyo Games.
“I played rugby when I was young and football and everything, but I kind of fell into triathlon by mistake,” he said.
“I was getting fit for playing hockey, and then my teachers told me to do a few races here, there, and everywhere. I got the bug and I’ve not looked back since.”
The next trinket Wilde could add to his trophy cabinet could be as winner of the T100 Triathlon World Tour. To ready himself for one last push, in Qatar on Friday, he based himself in Al Seef in Abu Dhabi, alternating training between there and in the pool at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
It could scarcely be much different to his base in Andorra in the Pyrenees, where he lives and trains for the rest of the year.
“[Andorra] is in the mountains, and Abu Dhabi is in the middle of the desert; they are two polar opposites,” Wilde said.
“But I'm from New Zealand as well, and I'm very used to kind of the seaside vibes. I really enjoyed it [in Abu Dhabi] and you don't really have to look at the weather report when you're in the UAE. You just wake up and off you go.
“It's such an easy place to chill out. Training is easy in the sense you're safe as no cars will interrupt bike sessions, and there's 50 metre pools where you can just get your work done. It's a fantastic place for me, personally, to train.”
The T100 comprises 20 leading professional triathletes in each of the men’s and women’s races. The leader of the women’s series, Kate Waugh, also based herself in the capital ahead of the final race.
“Training in Abu Dhabi's conditions means I'm already acclimatised to what we'll face in Qatar,” said Waugh, who was born in the north-east of England in Gateshead and will guarantee the series title if she wins in Doha.
“There's no temperature shock, no adjustment period needed. I can arrive in Lusail ready to perform at my best from Day 1. That's a significant advantage heading into a race of this magnitude.”
The Gulf is becoming ever more influential in the triathlon world. Dubai staged the season finale last season, while there will also be a race in Jeddah next year.
“The fact that our two championship leaders chose to base themselves in Abu Dhabi speaks volumes about what the UAE capital offers elite athletes,” said Sam Renouf, the chief executive of the Professional Triathletes Organisation.
“The infrastructure, the climate, the facilities – everything is world-class. The UAE has become an integral part of the global triathlon landscape, and we’re thrilled it played such a crucial role in our athletes’ preparation for the biggest race of the year.”
