Triathletes Sam Osborne and Olly Shaw will fly the flag for Rotorua during the elite race at the Xterra World Championships in Hawaii.
Shaw and Osborne are currently in Hawaii gearing up for the big race on Monday morning (NZT), which will see them take on the best off-road triathletesin the world.
The Xterra event is the biggest off-road triathlon race of the year with more than US$105,000 ($157,590) in prize money up for grabs.
Rotorua Association of Triathletes and Multisport (RATS) president Graham Perks said the club was right behind the local pair.
"With Sam and Olly over there, I think we have a good chance at finishing on the podium in the elite race ... the whole club will be behind them," he said.
"We are lucky with the quality of mountain biking we have here in Rotorua, which lends itself to producing some really good mountain bike athletes in the club."
The world champs race will include a 1.5km swim, a 32km mountain bike and a 10.5km trail run. Perks said he knew of a handful of locals who were attending the world champs, in different divisions, and wished them all well.
Young gun Lewis Ryan is another top talent from Rotorua competing at the world champs this weekend and will compete in the 15-19 age group. Ryan finished third in the age group last year, aged 16, and hopes to claim gold this year.
"I'm definitely excited to go back and give it another crack and knowing a bit more about the course, I'm hoping to go two places better," Ryan told the Rotorua Daily Post earlier this year.
Osborne, who is primarily a road triathlete, has had a stellar year in off-road triathlon and could be among the front runners on Monday in the men's elite race.
He has podiumed at every off-road triathlon event he has raced this year including a bronze medal at the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships in Italy last month.
Meanwhile, Shaw is a former 20-24 age group world champion at Xterra and has plenty of potential.
New Zealand multisport legend Richard Ussher has come on board to coach Shaw this year and he has been building towards the world champs all season.
Shaw posted on his Facebook supporters' page last week he was dedicating his race in Hawaii to Rotorua triathlete Stephanie McHale, who tragically died this month.
"Always love coming to Hawaii. Such an amazing place! My thoughts are with all those back home at the moment though. Makes me appreciate what I do and all those I share my journey with! #doingit4steph," he posted.
