Hayden Wilde won’t be DQd for wearing illegal shoes
The Olympic silver medallist will face no retrospective action from organisers despite admitting to wearing unapproved ASICS Metaspeed Ray prototypes in his victory in T100 French Riviera
New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde will not be retrospectively disqualified for wearing unapproved running shoes, despite being caught on camera admitting the offence.
The Kiwi Olympic silver medallist cantered to victory in the recent French Riviera T100 event in Fréjus to pick up the $25,000 winner’s cheque and cement his position as firm favourite for the series, which offers a $200,000 top prize.
But video and audio footage from a ‘hot mic’ as he changed shoes after the race showed Wilde talking to his coach about wearing new ASICS Metaspeed Ray shoes that were not sanctioned for use by the governing body until today (11 September).
With the incident uncovered in the aftermath of the event – as first reported by the Pro Tri News Instagram account – there was no opportunity for a protest by rivals because the short time window following the last finisher had expired.
However, World Triathlon rules state that results can be amended by its technical committee should new evidence come to light, with no time limit given for retrospective action.
Despite this, 220Triathlon understands that World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation, who organise the T100 series, will not take any further action, but instead vow to impose stricter processes going forward.
Any decision to disqualify Wilde from the south of France race could have had further ramifications, with allegations that other athletes also wore ASICS Metaspeed Ray in last month’s London T100 event – where the Kiwi’s victory capped a remarkable comeback from a horror bike crash.
Background: What are the ASICS Metaspeed Ray shoes?
Nothing about the configuration of the ASICS Metaspeed Ray shoes, which are officially launched today, is illegal. They are under the maximum allowed stack height of 40mm and do not contain multiple carbon plates.
But because they were not publicly available – a requirement of World Athletics and World Triathlon rules to try to prevent unfair advantage – they were outlawed until now.
ASICS sent an email to its sponsored athletes on 1 August reminding them that they should only wear the in-line Metaspeed Sky and Metaspeed Edge Tokyo, underlining that wearing a prototype could result in disqualification.
Wilde released a statement saying he made a mistake in wearing the shoes but only realised post-race that they were illegal, having missed the earlier email warning from ASICS.
The integrity of that statement is also called into question given his post-race discussion with run coach Gary Lough – husband of former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe and former coach to Olympic champion Mo Farah – and his decision to switch to an approved pair of shoes for the following day’s World Triathlon Championship Series race, where he placed 11th.
How did the incident occur?
World Triathlon-sanctioned events at this level should feature a mandatory equipment check prior to the race, usually at athlete check-in. It allows officials to check equipment such as shoes, bike set-ups and sponsor logo placements on trisuits, for example.
While World Triathlon says this took place as usual for Sunday’s WTCS race, it was missed for the longer T100 race on Saturday – the first time there had been a double-header of this nature.
Why is there no further action?
According to the World Triathlon Competition Rule 12.10 (a), results can be revised if credible new evidence comes to light. It also states in 12.10 (c ) that field-of-play decisions cannot be reopened through this process, which it looks like World Triathlon and PTO have fallen back on to make this call.
However, no further action leaves World Triathlon open to criticism not just by the rest of the field, who may feel aggrieved a key rival has been let off, but also of setting a lax precedent on equipment rulings.
Opinion: Is this nitpicking or a serious issue?
The shoes would have been legal to wear in races within a fortnight of the French T100, and there is constant friction between gaining a competitive edge through innovation and staying within the rules – especially in triathlon, where bike equipment is constantly tinkered with to find a faster set-up.
The PTO and World Triathlon will regret their decision to be lackadaisical when it comes to this incident, but busy technical officials can also make mistakes – so how much is this down to the organisers?
It is the intent behind the decision – as underlined on video – that is more concerning. It is hard to swallow Wilde’s statement as genuinely being oblivious, and even if he felt it was a minor infraction, he knew it was a clear breach.
It will leave fans questioning whether there are more sharp tactics at play – and potentially a sour taste for his rivals if he ends the season with a $200k cheque as the series winner in the T100 Race to Qatar.
Tim Heming
Freelance triathlon journalist 
