Whangarei athlete Sam Warriner's legs won her the International Triathlon Union Aquathlon World Championship at the Gold Coast - with some powerful running in the run-swim-run event.
It was her first world championship win in the event, which was part of the lead-up to this weekend's ITU World Triathlon Championships Series
Grand Final, where Warriner will be back in action.
During Wednesday's aquathlon, Warriner posted the fastest run split over the first 2.5km and was leading until she swam too far during the 1000m to miss the turnaround buoy, adding a further 100m to her efforts.
Warriner's mistake allowed Australian veteran Maxine Seear to snatch the lead off the Kiwi before she swiftly took control again in the second 2.5km run to win the world championship in 33 minutes, 11 seconds.
Seear was strong enough to hold on to second, 12 seconds behind Warriner, while Lisa Mensink from the Netherlands was third with a time of 33:39 minutes.
Warriner's victory in the Aquathlon World Championship was a welcome return to action for the 2008 World Series winner, following an injury-stricken year which included being stung by a stingray and a nasty bike crash.
The Kiwi had targeted the ITU World Triathlon Championship series before her accident but missed most of the races while she recovered.
"Lisa [Mensink] and I went to the wrong buoy during the swim, but that's racing," Warriner said after Wednesday's contest.
"Once I got out, it was all about having one last hard key session before the weekend's triathlon world championships on Sunday," said Warriner.
"It's all about having fun now and seeing how I go, for me it's all about 2010, following my injuries.
"I'm committed to the Olympics so this is about saying thank you to Triathlon New Zealand for supporting me through this tough year."
In the men's division, Brazilian Antonio Mansur added a gold medal to his two previous silver medals from 2008 and 2007, and following the race he announced it was to be his last international hit-out.
The ITU World Triathlon Championship race for the elite men at the Gold Coast is tomorrow, where all eyes will be on the leader - Britain's Alistair Brownlee, while the elite women race on Sunday.
Australia's Emma Moffatt has the lead in the women's division but Sweden's Lisa Norden and Kiwi Andrea Hewitt are hot on her heels.
