Triathlon: New Zealand's finest are in good shape for success

Like a pair of wily campaigners, New Zealand's big guns appear to have peaked at the right time for the world championships at Gamagori, Japan today.

New Zealand has a 10-strong contingent in the field - six in the men and four in the women - but most interest will be on the duo of Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty to see if they can repeat their Olympic heroics.

Adding spice to the occasion is the possibility it will be Carter's last world championships.

"It will be my 13th. That's a lot," said Carter recently. As definitive as that sounded, his manager Roger Mortimer said it was more a case of Carter being in the mindset of treating every race as if it could be his last.

At Athens, Carter won gold and Docherty followed him home for silver, a medal which complemented the gold he won months earlier at the world champs in Portugal.

Carter has not done a lot of racing this season and Docherty's early season form was patchy but both looked good at the Chicago Triathlon, one of the biggest events on the multisport calendar, two weeks ago.

The Olympic champion surged clear of world No 1 Hunter Kemper and Docherty late in the run to win.

This race could come down to a sprint finish because the all-important bike leg is flat, though Triathlon New Zealand high-performance manager Steve Farrell described it as technical. It will not however, sap too much energy from the legs, leaving the strongest runners in the best position to capitalise.

"It's a great feeling to know that you can win again," Carter said following the Chicago race. "I wanted to come back to win a big race. Don't get me wrong, I really want to win the worlds too."

As the race doubles up as a Commonwealth Games trial, New Zealand followers will be hoping there is no repeat of the disappointing scenes at Queenstown in 2003 - another world championships that doubled up, this time as an Olympic trial - where the Kiwis were too busy watching each other to chase down a two-man breakaway. Carter thinks not.

"I'm in top shape for the worlds. Bevan also looked good so we are both back in the same sort of shape that we were going into Athens."

Docherty and Carter will meet one of the strongest triathlon fields ever assembled. Spain's Ivan Rana, the 2002 world champion and silver medallist last year, is there, as is Sydney 2000 gold medallist Simon Whitfield of Canada. World No 1 American Hunter Kemper, Czech athlete Filip Ospaly, Switzerland's Reto Hug and Australian Peter Robertson are also highly favoured. Former world junior champion Briton Tim Don and Frenchman Fredric Belaubre are also chances.

Joining Carter and Docherty in the men's field will be fellow Olympian Nathan Richmond, Kris Gemmell, Shane Reed and Terenzo Bozzone, the two-time junior champion racing at the elite level for the first time.

In the women, Samantha Warriner looms as New Zealand's best hope, with a string of outstanding performances on the ITU circuit. She is currently placed third on the ITU points list behind the Australians Annabel Luxford and Emma Snowsill.

In four races this season she has won at Ishigaki and Hamburg, while securing second at Salford.

Warriner, a Whangarei teacher, has been using a motor-pacing training technique to help her on the bike leg and although it has reportedly brought her close to tears at times, the improvement in her cycling has been rapid.

She will be backed up by Evelyn Williamson, Debbie Tanner and Shanelle Barrett.

The nostalgic will be hoping for a big finish for American legend Barb Lindquist who retires after today's race.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY