England's Alex Yee won the first gold medal of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images

Alex Yee won the first gold medal of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games for hosts England here, fighting back from a significant deficit to beat New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, who was penalised for a transition error.

Today's men's and women's individual races were held over the sprint distance, featuring a 750 metres swim, 20 kilometres bike ride and 5km run.

Wilde, an Olympic bronze medallist, was part of a three-man leading pack with his compatriot Tayler Reid and South Africa's Jamie Riddle.

However, the transition from bike to run would prove costly for Wilde as he was deemed to have unclipped his helmet too early, and handed a 10-second penalty.

Olympic silver medallist Yee, in the chasing pack, was safely out of transition, and after Reid and then Riddle were dropped, he closed the gap on Wilde.

The pair were neck-and-neck approaching the finish, but Wilde, aware that he faced a penalty and in a commendable act of sportsmanship, allowed the Englishman a free run to the finish line to earn the adulation of the home crowd.

Yee finished in 50min 34sec, with Wilde 13 seconds further back including his penalty.

Australia's Matthew Hauser took third place in 50:50.

New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, centre, was penalised on his second transition, and allowed England's Alex Yee, left, his moment of glory in front of a home crowd ©Getty Images
New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, centre, was penalised on his second transition, and allowed England's Alex Yee, left, his moment of glory in front of a home crowd ©Getty Images

Wilde afterwards admitted that he "didn’t know what to do" after receiving his penalty, but also said he was "absolutely stoked" for Yee, and insisted "the rivalry is only just starting, but the friendship is getting bigger".

New Zealand have reportedly launched an appeal against the decision that will not impact Yee's gold medal, but could result in Wilde being upgraded.

This could take up to 30 days for an outcome.

In the women's race, Olympic and world champion Dame Flora Duffy of Bermuda became the first triathlete to successfully defend a Commonwealth Games title with a stunning victory over England's Georgia Taylor-Brown.

The duo broke clear of Scotland's Beth Potter, England's Sophie Caldwell and Canada's Emy Legault on the second lap of the bike leg, and remained neck-and-neck through to the end of the second phase.

Duffy was more efficient at the transition to run, and built an early lead which Olympic individual silver and mixed relay gold medallist Taylor-Brown could not rein in.

The closing stages of the run became a procession for the 34-year-old, who completed the run in 16:32 and finished in 55:25 overall.

Bermuda's Dame Flora Duffy pulled clear of England's Georgia Taylor-Brown to win women's triathlon gold by 41 seconds ©Getty Images
Bermuda's Dame Flora Duffy pulled clear of England's Georgia Taylor-Brown to win women's triathlon gold by 41 seconds ©Getty Images

Taylor-Brown was a comfortable second after a 17:11 run, but finished 41 seconds adrift of Duffy.

Potter won her first medal on her third appearance at the Games in athletes and triathlon, taking third place in 56:46, with Caldwell a further 20 seconds back.

Dame Flora expressed her pride at winning a second Commonwealth Games gold medal.

"It feels really special," she said.

"I could feel the pressure, no one has won twice and that was weighing on me.

"The crowd was amazing though and going nuts.

"I was enjoying the moment and soaking it all up."

The second and final day of triathlon at Birmingham 2022 is scheduled for Sunday (July 31), featuring the men's and women's visually Para triathlon events followed by the mixed relay.