Family all behind Bevan Docherty
OLYMPIC Games hopeful Bevan Docherty’s family will be cheering him on from the sidelines as he attempts to add another medal to his collection in London.
Mum Irene Docherty has travelled to the previous two Olympic Games in Beijing and Athens to cheer on her son, but wasn’t so keen on heading to London this year.
However Mrs Docherty has a rubber arm and has decided to travel to London with husband Ray to support their son and help out as babysitter to their two young grandchildren Fletcher and McKenna.
Bevan Docherty and older sister Fiona grew up in Taupo with their ‘‘triathlete junkie’’ father Ray as a multisport role model.
‘‘Ray did triathlons, played squash and ran so that’s what the kids and I did too. We all joined the tri club and had a lot of fun being active as a family.’’
Although Docherty raced in triathlons throughout his Tauhara College school years, it wasn’t until he attended Canterbury University that his mum started to notice her son’s drive to really succeed in the sport.
‘‘He was in his first year of an engineering degree and he was having a lot of fun and training so his studies took a bit of a hit,’’ she said. ‘‘Bevan had heard about racing internationally and decided to leave New Zealand and give up getting a degree to race for triathlon clubs in Holland and then France.’’
The move proved fruitful as Docherty began racking up top results on the European triathlon circuit in his early twenties.
‘‘I have to admit we were starting to wonder if he was ever going to make it up then he starting doing well at age 22 with some strong results in the world champs.
‘‘That’s when we realised he was going to be very good.’’
At age 27, Docherty won his first world championship and Mrs Docherty remembers getting up in the middle of the night to follow the race over a dodgy dial-up internet connection.
‘‘The race came down to the wire and the feed wasn’t very good so I didn’t know if Bevan had won or not,’’ she said.
‘‘When I heard he’d won I started screaming and dragged Ray out of bed. It was so exciting, we were so proud of him.’’
Mrs Docherty now listens to or watches every race her son is entered in, even if it means waking up in the middle of the night. ‘‘I can’t sleep if he’s racing.‘‘ New Zealand’s male triathletes haven’t had the best lead-up to the games this year but Mrs Docherty is confident of her son’s medal chances.
‘‘I know he’s got another big race in him and Bevan seems to do well in the big races. ‘‘You just never know, he might pull one out of the bag in London.’’