Appeal ruling could take months

AUCKLAND: It will take up to three months before Hayden Wilde finds out if he is a Commonwealth Games gold medal winner.

Triathlon New Zealand is lodging an appeal to the world body over the 10second transition time penalty which affected Wilde's bid in Birmingham.

If successful, the 24yearold Wilde will share the gold with Brit Alex Yee, a good friend of his.

Triathlon New Zealand chief executive Pete de Wet said the investigation would take between one and three months.

‘‘Because it is high profile they'll put a lot of time and effort in,’’ he said.

‘‘A lot of work goes into it . . . a detailed and lengthy process. You only get one shot at it.

‘‘We want to do right by our athletes and it was unclear on the day if the decision was right. We definitely stand by him.’’

Silver winner Wilde was

Triathlon New Zealand CEO Pete de Wet

penalised for unclipping his helmet early between the cycle and run legs. He was 16 seconds ahead of Yee at the transition and finished the race 13 seconds behind him.

After reviewing many angles of the incident for almost an hour, the race jury simply could not make a final call.

‘‘It's happened before, that there's been a double gold medal,’’ Wilde said after the race in Birmingham.

‘‘We're amazing mates behind the scenes and we're great rivals on the course. I do not want to take that medal away from him — he absolutely deserves it.

‘‘When I crossed the line, I told everyone that there was nothing we could do now. But it sounds like we can try to do something. I don't know too much about it.

‘‘It's the first time I've been in this scenario, so I'm as clueless as you guys.’’ —

❛ We want to do right by our athletes and it was unclear on the day if the decision was right. We definitely stand by him