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Home / Sport

Triathlon: Trio easy bets for final

By David Leggat
Reporter·NZ Herald·
12 Sep, 2013 05:30 PM4 mins to read

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Jonny (left) and Alistair Brownlee are both hot contenders to win the men's triathlon world series grand final on Monday morning.

Jonny (left) and Alistair Brownlee are both hot contenders to win the men's triathlon world series grand final on Monday morning.

Brownlee and Gomez to duel over the Olympic course in London

Fancy some variety among the winners in your sport, genuine competition where there are a range of decent contenders?

Then triathlon is not for you. For example, you can put a decent wager with a high degree of confidence, on who will win the men's triathlon world series grand final over the Olympic course in London this weekend. It'll either be a Brownlee - Alistair or Jonny, take your pick - or Spain's Javier Gomez.

The three are the dominant men in the sport by some distance. Coming into the denouement of the series, and with points counting double, the three are covered by just 120 points.

Olympic champion Alistair leads from his two years younger brother - who took bronze in London last year - with Gomez third.

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Such has been their crushing grip on the seven events on the circuit, they have won the lot, three apiece to the Yorkshire brothers, while Gomez won the series opener in Auckland last April. Gomez has had three seconds and a third; the Brownlees a silver and a bronze.

"There's definitely three guys who are in a class of their own," New Zealand's best, Ryan Sissons, said from the team camp at Font Romeu high in the Pyrenees in southern France. "It's not just me; everyone's looking around thinking 'how can we beat them'. People are getting closer and anything can happen in a race. Someone can have a bad day."

Just not a Brownlee or Gomez by the looks of it.

Jonny Brownlee clinched the world title last year in the grand final at the Auckland waterfront, however a closer inspection of their relative results suggests it is Alistair who tends to have the whip hand when both are in the field. However, he's been troubled by a niggling ankle injury.

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"Early this year I had a really bad knee and since then I've struggled with the ankle," Alistair Brownlee said. "I've actually injured three separate parts of it, which is why the whole year feels like a nightmare." Not that his results suggest that.

Brownlee, his brother and Gomez have redefined the possibilities for the three-in-one discipline. They churn out 10km runs to complete the triathlon in well under 30 minutes.

Alistair Brownlee harbours ambitions to have a crack at the 10,000m on the track at next year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. First there's a third world crown to chase in the early hours of Monday (NZT).

The women's elite field has been even more tightly bunched at the top, and with Andrea Hewitt sitting fifth, there's a solid New Zealand interest in tomorrow night's race.

Discover more

Sport

Triathlon: Hewitt runs out of steam in London

14 Sep 05:30 PM
Sport

Triathlon: Sissons 10th in Korea

12 Oct 05:00 AM

However long-legged American Gwen Jorgensen, German Annie Haug - winner of the last two races in Auckland - and Britain's Non Stanford have just 13 points covering them at the top of the ladder.

Hewitt, 12th ranked Kate McIlroy and No 15 Nicky Samuels - who all contested the Olympic race last year - will be eyeing a top 12 finish, and qualification for the Commonwealth Games. McIlroy did well on the Olympic course last year, finishing 10th, four spots behind the diminutive Hewitt. She said it was important the athletes learn from that experience on a flat, fast course.

"There's a handful of girls running very fast, they've had phenomenal years, so it'd be great to be off the bike and have a minute, minute and a half lead on them and try and stay away from them on the run," she said.

McIlroy's campaign has featured solid performances, but a heel injury took some of the spring out of her step in the Hamburg and Stockholm legs in July-August. "You can't line up on the start line having missed chunks of training. You get found out pretty quickly. It's heaps better now.

"I've had a good block of training since Stockholm and am feeling much more confident."

Should all New Zealand's athlete miss out on the top 12 in London, there is a second opportunity for Commonwealth Games qualification, in the Auckland opening leg of next year's series, next April. A top eight finish would be required there.

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The big advantage in getting a qualifying performance is it removes the discretionary element, wherein athletes can be subject to the selectors' thinking rather than have hard numbers to prove their capabilities. A big weekend awaits New Zealand's best.

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