Olympic viewers spot 'sportsmanship at its best' act by New Zealand athlete after losing gold to Brit

Olympic viewers have praised the 'brilliant' sportsmanship between New Zealand and Team GB at the men's triathlon.

Today (31 July) saw the gruelling three-legged race finally go head after fears over the water quality in the river Seine, with Team GB's Alex Yee bagging himself a gold medal.

The competition was a tightly fought one, with New Zealand's Hayden Wilde leading the charge after the running and cycling legs of the event.

With just 10km of running distance remaining, the UK's Yee was trailing Wilde by 14 seconds.

However - as the age old saying goes - it's not over until it's over and Yee was ultimately able to claw back his pace in the closing moments to make it first over the finish line.

The win is the 26-year-old's second ever Olympic gold and first ever for the triathlon event.

After spending so much of the race in pole position, you'd imagine that the Kiwi athlete would be feeling pretty downcast by his loss - however, Wilde managed to rise above the disappointment of missing out on his first gold and congratulate Yee on his achievement as France's Léo Bergere came in third place.

And social media users were quick to pick up on Wilde's professionalism online and praised the 26-year-old for his behaviour.

Respect 🤝

Hayden Wilde sits down to congratulate Alex Yee after their epic battle in the men's triathlon.

This is what the #Olympics is all about. ❤️️#BBCOlympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/yajCiupR5f

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2024

"Another brilliant race in incredibly trying conditions. What a final push from Alex. Sportsmanship at its finest. Loving these olympics," one person wrote on X, while a second commented: "True sportsmanship from Wilde."

"One of the moments of #OlympicGames so far. Alex Yee wins an astonishing triathlon – after looking completely beaten, 14 secs down. And then is congratulated with genuine warmth by Hayden Wilde, the NZ guy he beat," a third added.

Speaking in an intervirew after the triathlon ended Wilde praised Yee for his performance, saying he was 'stoked' to see the Brit take home gold in the event.

Wilde also gave a shoutout to his fellow NZ teammate Dylan McCullough for helping him back into the race during the cycling phase of the competition.

The men's triathlon event was finally able to go ahead today, after fears that the event could be called off or turned into a duathlon due to pollution levels in the Seine.

Despite water quality being good enough for the race to go ahead today, several of the athletes finished the gruelling challenge looking worse for wear - with Canada's Tyler Mislawchuk even vomiting at the finish line.

Let's just hope that was due to exhaustion and not bacteria floating in the French river.