KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's Jo Lawn equalled her best with a fourth-place finish in the Ironman triathlon world championship in Kona, Hawaii, yesterday, but virus-stricken compatriot Cameron Brown was forced out.
Six-time Ironman New Zealand champion Brown was aiming for his first world championship title after three podium finishes in Hawaii.
However, his world came crashing down when he started vomiting on the bike, eventually forced to withdraw at the 120km mark - the first time he has pulled out of an ironman race.
Brown struggled with a virus during the week but thought he had got rid of it by the time he started the race.
"It is a day I want to forget in a real hurry," he said.
"After having a virus 10 days ago and being bed-ridden for three days, I thought I was okay and over it but when I got out there and tried to push my body at 100 per cent, I soon found there was not a lot in the tank."
Meanwhile Lawn, who had been training with Brown in France, withstood a sprint finish to equal her best finish in Kona.
It is Lawn's fifth top-10 finish at the Ironman world championships - equalling Brown's record.
She finished 9h 26m 47s, 18m 02s behind the winner, Chrissie Wellington, of Great Britain.
Brown was on the sidelines to encourage Lawn as she fought off challenges from Australians Rebecca Preston and Rebekah Keat down the finish straight on Ali'i Drive.
"Cameron was out there letting me know that there were two girls right behind me with 100m to go," Lawn said.
It proved a difficult day for the favourites with men's defending champion Normann Stadler and 2005 winner Faris Al Sultan (both Germany) pulling out.
It was a similar story for the women, with defending champion Michellie Jones (Australia) and six-time winner Natascha Badmann (Switzerland), who pulled out on the bike.
The remaining main contenders, including Lawn, rode most of the race together but it was Ironman rookies Wellington and Samantha McGlone (Canada) who took it to more seasoned campaigners once they hit the run.
"Today it could have been anyone's race. It was the toughest who came through. I've never experienced such heat that there was today - it was definitely the hottest it has ever been here," Lawn said.
In his sixth attempt at winning the world championships, Australian Chris McCormack took the men's title.
- NZPA
