Hayden Wilde could potentially be promoted to a gold medal alongside England's Alex Yee after appealing a controversial call that cost him crucial time in the men's triathlon at the Commonwealth Games.
Wilde was leading for much of Friday evening's race but received a 10-second time penalty for unclipping his helmet prior to racking his bike on the transition to the run, ultimately leading him to claim silver instead of gold as New Zealand's first medal in Birmingham.
"I don't think it was a penalty," Wilde told Sky after the race.
"If I knew exactly what it was I probably would have run over the line and got myself disqualified and protested. I thought it was a little bit unfair.
"I came in as I always do, racked my bike, was holding my clip and was still clipped and as soon as my wheel inside the mount I unclip because I use it as balance."
He and Yee were neck-and-neck down the stretch, and Wilde celebrated his rival's win in a remarkable show of sportsmanship as he headed to the penalty box.
Wilde finished 13 seconds behind Yee after his penalty but appealed shortly after the race and left it with officials to deliberate in a process which could take up to 30 days to finalise.
With such a time frame, 1News has been informed Wilde will be awarded silver at Saturday's medal ceremony but a potential outcome from the challenge is a promotion to gold alongside Yee in the future.
"I think it's a bit unfair there but that's racing - it's the first medal for New Zealand, a silver, you've got to be happy about that," Wilde told Sky.
"There's a bit of disappointment but you've got to be proud."
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