Jo Lawn, New Zealand's leading distance triathlete, won't have things all her own way with a superb women's field announced yesterday for the upcoming Port of Tauranga half ironman.
Lawn will face a daunting international-class lineup in the half ironman at Mount Maunganui on January 7.
Lawn, the three-time Ironman New Zealand champion, is top women's seed for the 17th running of the iconic event after reigning champion Sam Warriner pulled out to concentrate on her buildup to the Commonwealth Games.
The Aucklander, fourth in the Ironman world championships in Hawaii eight weeks ago, will take on the best field in the event's history.
The lineup includes past winner Karyn Ballance, Sydney Olympian Evelyn Williamson, former world champion Fiona Docherty and several international Ironman winners, including Canadian Marilyn MacDonald and Japan's Yoko Hori.
Two-time Port of Tauranga champion Ballance returns after a two-year absence. She has been one of the country's premier endurance triathletes, winning the half ironman in 1997 and 1999 and Ironman New Zealand in 2002, along with six other podium placings around the world.
Christchurch-based Ballance returned after prolonged injuries to place 15th in Hawaii in October _ a superb performance given she still mixes a fulltime career as a podiatrist with her sport.
Williamson has been New Zealand's best performed Olympic-distance female over the past decade with 17 top-10 World Cup finishes, highlighted with her third placing in the 1998 world championships.
The Kapiti Coast 35-year-old is another who has had to overcome injury and now turns her attention to the longer distance. Williamson was third in Tauranga two years ago. Hori, the Auckland based Japanese triathlete, won Ironman Japan last year and was third this year. She has 11 top-10 finishes in international Ironman competition and finished in the top-20 at Hawaii this year.
MacDonald won Ironman Malaysia in 2004 and continues her rise in the sport, finishing fifth in Ironman Canada and third in Western Australia. She is noted as a strong rider. She is joined by another Canadian in Pam Ens, a well performed international athlete with four top-10 Ironman finishes to her credit, including fifth in Canada last year and eighth in New Zealand in 2001.
Docherty, sister of Athens silver medallist Bevan, won the 2003 world long distance duathlon crown in Switzerland and was third in her Ironman debut in Western Australia in 2004. She was eighth in Canada this year and will use Tauranga as her preparation for a determined crack at Ironman New Zealand.
There are other interesting entries including Taupo's Fleur Bromley, third overall this year, who went on to record a top-10 finish in her age group in Hawaii, while Tauranga's well-performed age-grouper Annie Oliver returns after finishing fourth overall in 2005.
Lawn is concentrating on getting as much as possible out of the day.
"I am treating it as a good training day for Ironman, with drink stations along the way and lots of people watching," Lawn said. "The main focus is to treat this as a key part of my preparation for Taupo.
"Of course, it's a race so I will be giving it everything but I won't be tapering or resting for it _ just treating it as part of my training."
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