New Zealand will have a largely developmental look to their team racing at the ITU Tongyeong World Cup Triathlon in South Korea this weekend, with James Elvery and Tony Dodds the most experienced of the five Kiwis lining up to chase valuable ranking points at the end of the season.
Elvery and Dodds will be joined in the men's race by 21 year old Tom Davison. The Christchurch triathlete has quite some story to tell, he has only been in the sport for four years after suffering 4 knee dislocations (3 while playing in the front row of the rugby scrum and 1 while snowboarding). Now 20 kilo's lighter and with happier knees, Davison is forging a career as a top prospect in triathlon, finishing 18th at the recent U23 Elite World Champs in Beijing.
For Elvery, 69th on the Olympic rankings, the race this Saturday is a change to his original plans, a change motivated largely through a disappointing illness affected race in Beijing last month.
"I decided to race in Tongyeong to try to maintain my Olympic ranking going into 2012 after not scoring points in Beijing. In the scramble to be in the top 8 countries, these World Cup races are becoming quite important to New Zealand's chances of earning three spots in London.
"I'll be looking to be near the front out of the swim and having a go to get a group away early if anything is on out on the bike. Doddsy and Tom should be there as well so we may be able to get something going with the Russians. I need a good result on Saturday so don't want to take any risks wasting unnecessary energy on the bike, as I have been doing a bit lately. I raced here last year and the course is pretty straight forward, so all going to plan it should be a good day at the office."
While Elvery has been busy racing, Dodds is returning to action after deciding to head home early from his overseas campaign and not race in Beijing. Dodds goes into Tongyeong ranked 71st on the Olympic list.
"After a frustrating year I decided to pull out of the World Champs and have a little break and start over to try have a good end of the season and then put all my money on Sydney (World Champs Series event) next year.
"Home has been great and training has been going really well, Tom Davison came down for a week and we managed to thrash each other for a bit. This race means a lot for me to get my confidence back and put together a race where I know I should be. I want to be in the selectors' eyes for next year going into Sydney so these races are a stepping stone for that."
In the women's race 20 year old Maddy Brunton (Waikato) debuts at World Cup level while 21 year old Simone Ackermann (Whangarei) continues her initiation into the sport with just her second World Cup start after finishing 39th in Mooloolaba earlier this year.
The similarities between the two are spooky, both are clearly hugely talented triathletes but both have also gone on to study towards science degrees, with Ackermann finishing her degree at Massey University last year while Brunton is on a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship at the University of Waikato, also studying towards a Bachelor of Science.
Brunton signalled her potential with some strong showings in the Contact Tri Series, including back to back wins in Rotorua in 2009 and 2010. Brunton battled injury and illness in the latter part of last summer and is on the comeback trail, with Tongyeong her first race start in some months. Her international experience includes a 13th place finish in the Elite Junior (U19) World Championships in Budapest in 2010.
Ackermann meanwhile has raced extensively this New Zealand winter, picking up valuable experience overseas at ITU Continental Cup events including a podium finish (3rd) at the Subic Bay Asian Cup race and more recently finished 20th at the ITU U23 World Championships in Beijing.
ITU Triathlon World Cup
Tongyeong, South Korea
Saturday 15th October
- Elite Women: 1.00pm NZT
- Elite Men: 3.45pm NZT
For race results and information visit: www.triathlon.org.
