Some things are just better in pairs - like Olympic medals.
New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde doubled the country’s medal count with silver in the men’s triathlon late last night.
The 26-year-old, who was one of the pre-race favourites, had to wait an extra day to compete.
The event was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed because the waters of the Seine were deemed to be too polluted.
But he made up ground on the 40km cycling route and it all came down to the 10km run.
Wilde joined Great Britain’s Alex Yee at the front and the two fastest men in the field battled it out for a period.
The Kiwi made his move on the second lap and pulled away from his rival.
He appeared to have an unassailable lead, but Yee overtook him with the finish line in sight to claim a dramatic gold.
Wilde had to settle for silver and Leo Bergere, of France, took bronze.
Fellow Kiwi Dylan McCullough was 19th.
In the women’s race, Ainsley Thorpe succumbed to the slippery surface, which ultimately cost her a shot at a podium finish.
Thorpe crashed on the cobblestones part-way through the cycle leg, sending her to the back of the field and crushing her Olympic dream.
The gold was won by Cassandre Beaugard, of France, ahead of Julie Derron, of Switzerland, and world champion Beth Potter, of Great Britain, third.
Fellow Kiwi Nicole Van der Kaay finished 31st, 6min 39sec behind Beaugard. Thorpe finished 44th, a further nine minutes back.
Black Ferns win gold
Earlier in the day, the Black Ferns beat Canada 19-12 to win gold in the sevens.
Southland’s Alena Saili was part of the squad and got to celebrate with her whanau in Paris.
But the 25-year-old told the Otago Daily Times she was looking forward to returning home to show her gold medal to her nana, friends and the rest of the family.
"To come from little old Southland, I think it's a pretty big deal and I can't wait to celebrate with everyone back at home,’’ she said.
"I'm always proud to represent Southland, and when I score a try I always put my antlers up to represent it [the Southland Stags].
Saili also wants to visit local schools to show young people that anything is possible.
She has fond memories of Olympians visiting her school to show off their medals.
"To be able to come back home and do that is really exciting. So hopefully I can inspire the next generation of kids in rugby and all sports"
And she already is.
Southland Girls’ High students and rugby players Lucy Dermody, 17, Piper McRai, 17, Georgia Gay, 16, and Sualo Lafoga, 16, said Saili was a legend at their school.
"It's really cool because she's been like a star of the school rugby since she was really young, so it was almost destined for her to be achieving gold and stuff,’’ Sualo said.
Piper agreed.
"I think it's cool that, you know, you see someone from down here doing good because not many people from down here go that far.
"To see how far they can go, knowing that it's achievable, it is awesome"
