KEY POINTS:
With another medal secured, Bevan Docherty glanced at Canadian rival Simon Whitfield yesterday and shook his head. Whitfield looked back and the old friends laughed.
This was a special moment - they had just become the only two triathletes to mount the Olympic podium twice.
And a plan
they had conspired over together to beat the favourite, Spain's Javier Gomez, had just worked.
Docherty, the Taupo 31-year-old, had won bronze to go with his silver of four years ago. Whitfield, 33, had silver to match his gold from 2000.
The head shake and laugh between the friends was a recognition of what they had achieved together.
"It was a 'we're here again'," said Docherty. "We're good mates and we have respect for each other. Two years ago [at the world championships] in Lausanne, I had to pull out and Simon had to pull out and that was a pretty tough time. You do learn from those down times and it's just good we can celebrate two high times at the world's biggest sporting event."
Yesterday's race on the outskirts of Beijing came down to a sprint finish. Whitfield had dropped off the leading group of four entering the last kilometre and it looked like the medals would be divided between the others - Docherty, Gomez and German Jan Frodeno.
As it unfolded, Whitfield fought back and burst past the other three.
Frodeno, 27, went too and dashed away for gold - his first win in any major triathlon. His previous best results are a clutch of seconds and thirds in world cup events over the past three years.
Even more surprising than Frodeno's win was that Gomez had finished fourth. After the race, Whitfield revealed that he and Docherty had figured out how they could beat the world champion and four-time world cup winner.
"Bevan and I talked about the way to beat him was to pile the pressure on him," said Whitfield. "We have enormous respect for him and we were happy for him to be talked up as favourite."
Docherty said he knew Gomez was beatable.
"Unfortunately for Javier, when he does win, he wins it easy. When the boys are piling on the pressure, he hasn't learned that aspect of the game yet. When the pressure is applied it doesn't take talent - it's all mental.
"I knew if I was there in the end, I could break him - it's just that there were two other guys."
After the race Docherty was so spent he had to sit down as he spoke to reporters. He had given everything to go one better than in Athens. But he was happy to have bronze.
"I know a couple of months down the track that gold medal is still going to haunt me but this is the best I could do today and I'm happy.
"I'm slowly building up a collection [of Olympic medals] and unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to go to London to get the gold."
Docherty said the race went according to plan. "At the start of the day, my coach [Mark Elliott] said to me, 'Be patient'. Just ask my girlfriend, [Cheryl Fletcher] I'm not the most patient man. But I just hung in there. Unfortunately I just didn't have the legs on the final straight."
As for his girlfriend, he intended making up to her the sacrifices she had made this year.
"She's an American girl but I'm changing her into a Kiwi. My sister has been living with me and they've [his sister and girlfriend] had to put up with a lot."
