By TERRY MADDAFORD
Two big-name Australians, both previous winners of the ITU world championships, will be missing from Sunday's action.
Nicole Hackett, a Sydney Olympian and the winner of the 2000 championships, was a late withdrawal from the Australian team. She gave birth to her son just over six weeks ago and,
while back in full training, has decided to concentrate her efforts on the Australian Olympic trial in Coffs Harbour on December 20.
Miles Stewart, who won in 1991, has also decided to bypass Queenstown in favour of Coffs Harbour.
A regular in the Australian team and on the world circuit for 15 years, he said it was one of the toughest decisions he had had to make in his long stint in the sport.
Another Australian missing will be Craig Walton, who blitzed the field to win the last ITU World Cup race in Geelong two weeks ago. His late offer of a wildcard spot was withdrawn because he had not competed in Australia's selection races.
TOP 10
Top-ranked athletes for the elite championships (world rankings last mentioned). -
MEN
1-Greg Bennett (Australia) 1
2-Andrew Johns (Britain) 3
3-Bevan Docherty (NZ) 4
4-Chris Hill (Australia) 5
5-Craig Watson (NZ) 6
6-Ivan Rana (Spain) 8
7-Martin Krnavek (Czech Rep) 11
8-Hamish Carter (NZ) 12
9-Kris Gemmell (NZ) 14
10-Simon Whitfield (Canada) 15
WOMEN
1-Barb Lindquist (US) 1
2-Sheila Taormina (US) 2
3-Laura Reback (US) 3
4-Jill Savege (Canada) 4
5-Carol Montgomery (Canada) 5
6-Anja Dittmer (Germany) 6
7-Michellie Jones (Australia) 7
8-Kathleen Smet (Belgium) 8
9-Carla Moreno (Brazil) 10
10-Liz Blatchford (Australia) 11
