TRIATHLON - Hewitt in for Samuels at Beijing

By PETER THORLEY and NZPA
WHANGAREI triathlete Nicky Samuels has no complaints after missing out on Olympic selection to Christchurch's Andrea Hewitt yesterday.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee confirmed that the 26-year-old Hewitt would join Whangarei's Sam Warriner and Auckland's Debbie Tanner - who have already qualified - on the Games start line in August, while 34-year-old Shane Reed, will join Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell in the men's event.
"I realised that I needed to finish in the top five in Mooloolaba last weekend to get automatic selection and, when I didn't, it was down to the selectors' discretion and it would definitely go her way," Samuels said.
Neither Hewitt nor Samuels finished high enough at last year's Beijing World Cup race or the World Cup race at Mooloolaba in Queensland to automatically qualify for Beijing under Tri NZ selection criteria, so it came down to a shoot-out in Queensland last weekend.
Samuels said the high temperature at Mooloolaba didn't really suit her.
"Everything went to plan, I had a good swim, a good transition, the cycle leg was fairly boring but then I didn't have any legs to run on ... it was just a bad race on a bad day, you all have them but I mean I always race badly at Mooloolaba," she said.
"But you can't really complain, that's the way they set the (selection) criteria out and we all knew that was their decision," she said.
The Whangarei 25-year-old said that now her Olympic dream was on hold, she had to refocus on her immediate future.
"I hope I can still use this year to my advantage. While everyone else is focusing on the Olympics, I hope I can get some good ITU results and maybe earn some money this year by winning races while everybody else is training for the Olympics," she said.
The Tri NZ selectors named Samuels and Terenzo Bozzone as official reserves for Beijing.
Bozzone finished 14th at Mooloolaba and Reed 25th, with both ranked in the mid-20s.
Samuels, ranked 30th in the world, beat No 15 Hewitt home in last month's Oceania championships in Wellington but was 20th to Hewitt's 14th at Mooloolaba.
Tri NZ chief executive Dave Beeche acknowledged the work of the Tri NZ selectors - Josie Sinclair, Rick Wells and Lyne Pattle - and the difficult task they faced.
"Our independent selection panel has managed a tough selection process in a robust and thorough manner in reaching their conclusion.
"Essentially someone is going to be unlucky to miss out, as has been the case here."
NZOC selector Mike Stanley said he was satisfied Tri NZ had undergone a robust selection process.
Hewitt and Reed will race on Sunday in the ITU World Cup race at New Plymouth, a perfect way for Reed to celebrate his selection in his home town.
Tri NZ high performance director Stephen Farrell warned against casting too much expectation on the New Zealand team following their triumph at the 2004 Games in Athens.
"The expectation may be high after gold and silver medals from Hamish (Carter) and Bevan at Athens," he said.
"But the reality is that the six Olympic triathlon medals up for grabs in Beijing will be as elusive as any in the competition."