Flat tyre thwarts Wright's triathlon

A deflated Wanganui triathlete James Wright was forced to pull out of the Australian Junior event in Penrith. Photo/Supplied

A flat tyre has yet again foiled Wanganui's James Wright's chances of finishing his first triathlon this year.

The 16-year-old Wanganui High School student travelled to Penrith last week as part of the TRINZ Elite Youth Squad to compete in the Australian Junior Series.

Wright was again out of the water among the leading bunch, but quickly discovered his tyre was flat in the transition to the cycle leg.

His father Colin said by the time he had changed his tyre, the rest of the field was out of the water and mounted for the cycle leg, so the decision was made to withdraw.

"Under ITU (International Triathlon Union) regulations there is a no drafting rule, so he would never have caught up. His only option, really, was to withdraw - he was a bit frustrated," Wright senior said yesterday.

On January 3, Wright raced in the sprint Tri at Whangamata. He was in a strong position coming out of the swim leg in fourth and was well placed in the cycle leg when a flat tyre ended his race prematurely.

However, on day two of the Australian Junior Series Wright raced in a team triathlon to finish 10th out of more than 30 entries.

"The teams race is a new event that is to be included in the 2016 Olympics. It features two females and two males and New Zealand fielded three teams. A Kiwi team won it, the other one was ninth and James' team was 10th out of 30-odd teams."

Meanwhile, Wright is still waiting to hear if he has made it into the New Zealand Talent Squad where he will receive special treatment reserved for budding new stars.

Wright attended three TRINZ Youth Development camps in New Zealand in the last year. In December, he travelled to the Millennium Institute in Auckland for testing in swimming, cycling and running and was picked for the squad to travel to Penrith.

"We are still waiting to hear whether he's made into the New Zealand squad. Hopefully we should know by the end of the month. In the meantime, James will race at Takapuna on Auckland Anniversary day (Friday, January 24) ... Then he's got the Kinloch triathlon on February 1," his dad said.