Kiwis chase Olympic rating points
New Zealand are chasing more crucial Olympic ranking points at the latest stop on the world triathlon championship series at San Diego this weekend.
The race carries significance not only for the individual world championship points on offer, but for the scramble for rankings points ahead of London.
The top eight nations earn three spots at the Olympics and while New Zealand are currently inside the cut for the men and women, failure to pick up enough points between now and the end of the qualification period on June 8 would reduce their number of spots to two.
New Zealand will be represented in San Diego, the spiritual birthplace of triathlon, by Nicky Samuels and Debbie Tanner in Saturday’s women’s race, while the men’s race on Sunday will see Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Ryan Sissons, Clark Ellice and Tony Dodds all on the start line.
Samuels, who will be the third Kiwi in London should the women retain three berths, has endured a torrid time since her inclusion in the Olympic squad. She underwent surgery for an abscessed appendix, so isn’t expecting miracles this weekend. ‘‘Originally I was looking for a good result in San Diego to keep my points up to make sure we get that third spot for the Olympics. Following that I was going to do a training block in America, but just four days after the Sydney race (mid-april) and the night after the Olympic announcement in Auckland my plans changed.
‘‘I had a problem with my stomach again and two days later when I was back in Wanaka I visited the doctor and ended up in the emergency department in Dunedin that night. The next morning I was in surgery getting my abscessed appendix out.
‘‘So less than three weeks later I am lining up in San Diego. I have had a lot of time out of training but hope I still have my fitness in reserve from preSydney to get through the race. I am using this week to get some strength back and then I have one week of solid training to hopefully pop my fitness back up to race in Madrid. Following this race I head straight to Europe where I will stay in Sete [southern France] until the Madrid world series race.’’
Sissons is backing up after his impressive second place at the Huatulco World Cup last weekend and is confident of a good showing in San Diego. Like Samuels, he’ll be the third member of the Olympic team should New Zealand retain three spots. Docherty and Gemmell have booked their tickets.
Gemmell has based himself in Boulder, Colorado, since his naming in the team for London, and while he is eyeing a strong performance this weekend, all eyes are on London in August. Ellice missed the team for London but was named as a reserve.
It is that mix of emotions that is driving the New Plymouth triathlete this weekend. ‘‘I’m pretty pumped, angry and frustrated leading into this one,’’ he said. ‘‘My goal is to be first Kiwi over the line, vent some frustration at not being in the team for London and then race and train a lot calmer for the rest of the season.’’