In 27 years of organising over 500 sporting events, Arthur Klap has done it all. Big and small. International to local. High profile to almost obscure. But none he insists as big as this weekend's world triathlon championships.
"This is the biggest," Klap said this week.
The best?
"I'll tell you that onSunday."
With a budget of $2.5 million, including US$200,000 ($308,761) in prizemoney, much is at stake.
This hectic two-day event is a big step up from the 1994 championships he promoted in Wellington.
"We had 1250 there. This time it is 1800. But honestly, I don't know if we are better prepared. It has been a week of issues."
Fifty-two-year-old Klap's first foray was the 1976 national freestyle skiing championships.
In 1987 he formed his own company to promote and organise sporting events.
Queenstown out of the way, he can look forward to the 2005 world mountain running championships in Wellington and, the following year, the world mountain biking championships in Rotorua.
"These tri-champs are different than Wellington where we had one 40km loop for the bike course. Here we have seven laps [around Arrowtown]," said Klap. "This is a technical course. Harder than Wellington but a great one.
"I wanted a challenging bike course. We have come up with that. It is one of the best courses I have seen. It is similar to Lausanne in Switzerland which rates right up there. Logistically it was a difficult course to come up with, especially in having to find a different bike course for the age group competitors.
"We didn't want a flat run course but we wanted one which the spectators could feel part of. I feel we have done that, especially in having two hills on each of the four laps."
Klap says he has produced a more traditional course by getting away from the motorways and industrial areas that are too often part of courses these days.
Like most, Klap cannot pick a winner, especially in the men's race.
"I hope we get a winning start on Saturday with Terenzo Bozzone in the juniors," said Klap. "After that, who knows. None of the races looks easy."
But, come Monday, he is looking forward to a break.
