KEY POINTS:
Shane Reed and Andrea Hewitt will fill the final positions among the New Zealand men's and women's triathletes to compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee today confirmed Reed, 34, is to join Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell - who had already qualified
- on the Games start line in August while Hewitt, 26, will be alongside Sam Warriner and Debbie Tanner.
Neither Hewitt nor Reed finished high enough at last year's Beijing World Cup race or the World Cup race at Mooloolaba in Queensland to automatically qualify for Beijing under Tri NZ selection criteria.
The Tri NZ selectors used their discretion to nominate the pair to the New Zealand Olympic Committee ahead of others in contention such as Terenzo Bozzone and Nicky Samuels, who have both been named as official reserves for Beijing.
Bozzone finished 14th at Mooloolaba and Reed 25th, with both ranked in the mid-20s.
Samuels, ranked 30th in the world, beat world No 15 Hewitt home in last month's Oceania championships in Wellington but was 20th to Hewitt's 14th at Mooloolaba.
Tri NZ chief executive Dave Beeche acknowledged the work of the Tri NZ selectors - Josie Sinclair, Rick Wells and Lyne Pattle - and the difficult task they faced.
"This decision was a clearly a difficult one with each athlete merit's considered by the selectors in making their decision and while it is a tough call for those who miss out," Beeche said.
"Our independent selection panel has managed a tough selection process in a robust and thorough manner in reaching their conclusion.
" Essentially someone is going to be unlucky to miss out, as has been the case here."
NZOC selector Mike Stanley said he was satisfied Tri NZ had undergone a robust selection process.
Hewitt and Reed will race on Sunday in the ITU World Cup race at New Plymouth, a perfect way for Reed to celebrate his selection in his home town.
Tri NZ high performance director Stephen Farrell was pleased the Games team had been finalised after a long selection process.
He warned of casting too much expectation on the New Zealand team following their triumph at the 2004 Games in Athens.
"The expectation may be high after gold and silver medals from Hamish (Carter) and Bevan at Athens but the reality is that the six Olympic triathlon medals up for grabs in Beijing will be as elusive as any in the competition," he said.
"We are one of the earliest countries to name their full triathlon team which gives our athletes more time for optimal Olympic Games preparation.
"We believe we have genuine medal prospects amongst the men's and women's teams along with teams from approximately a dozen other countries.
"The vagaries of triathlon mean that race results on a given day are somewhat unpredictable. We know we have that we have to be 100 per cent on our game to turn that potential into reality."
- NZPA
