College sport: Thinking like a champion

By JENNI RUTHERFORD

Terenzo Bozzone does not think like a 16-year-old schoolboy, he thinks like a world champion.

It is not the girls and fast cars that crams his adolescent head, but thoughts of gold medals, sponsors, tiring training sessions and winning.

"To be a world champion, you have to think like one," the Rangitoto College sixth- former said.

The multisport athlete, who leaves for the world triathlon championships in Canada next month, is dreaming of a triathlon gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

To compete with the world's best, the 16-year-old had to get the go-ahead from Triathlon New Zealand.

It is the second time the teenager has had to apply for dispensation for being under 17, the minimum competing age at world events.

Last year, as a 15-year-old, he needed special permission to compete at the world duathlon championships, where he finished 19th in the under-20 men's event.

He will compete in the same age group in Edmonton after qualifying for the championships by winning the Oceania junior triathlon on Australia's Sunshine Coast in April.

Born in South Africa, the Bozzone family moved to New Zealand five years ago.

Bozzone is well aware of the dangers of peaking too soon before reaching the optimum age for the sport, damaging his growing body and struggling to capture the enthusiasm and form that he has now. "I know all about blowout. But I think blowout is in the mind, not so much in the body," he said.

Bozzone is under the watchful eye of coaches, among them Jack Ralston, also coach to New Zealand No 1 Hamish Carter.

Bozzone often trains with Carter, and is close to Nathan Richmond, who also blossomed young in the sport.

"Nathan has said to me that the biggest danger is in losing interest in the sport," Bozzone said.

He is up at 4.15 am for daily sessions in the pool, and after school is pounding the pavement running or cycling.

His hard work has paid off. He has collected a truckload of silverware over the short time he has been involved in the demanding sports, as well as sponsors eager to support him.

Among others, he holds the trio of New Zealand secondary school titles in duathlon, triathlon and multisport, and the national under-18 triathlon, 1500m and 3000m junior boys secondary school track titles.

The adrenalin of winning keeps him keen, and seeing his success and enjoyment in multisport, his younger brother Dino has followed enthusiastically in his footsteps.

"Sometimes I wonder why I do it and put myself through it," he said. "But I love it, I really love it."