By TERRY MADDAFORD
It was one of the most gut-wrenching sights on television.
Metres short of the finish line at the 1982 world ironman championship in Hawaii, Julie Moss, exhausted and dehydrated, stumbled and fell.
As she crawled painfully towards the finish line in Kona, she was passed by fellow American Kathleen McCartney.
McCartney
won the race but the agony and glory was with Moss. It was a defining moment for a sport then in its infancy.
Tomorrow, Moss will be in Taupo among a record 1200-strong field for Ironman New Zealand.
It will mark her comeback to the sport. Ironically, she was the last of 1204 entries accepted for this year's race.
Moss was a special guest at last year's race in Hawaii which marked the 20th anniversary of her epic struggle.
"I guess I represent something to people," says Moss. "Twenty years later I'm not about being an amazing athlete. It's really about the personal qualities to not give up when things get really hard."
The Taupo race holds a special attraction for Moss.
She is using it as a qualifier for the 25th anniversary race in Hawaii where she is keen to compete as an age grouper rather than among the elite.
Competitors from 38 countries will line up for this year's race.
The record field for this year's event continues a trend of having bigger fields every year since the race was switched from Auckland to Taupo in 1999, a year after a then record 650 competed.
