Triathlon: Unfinished business for Carter

By CHRIS RATTUE

The Olympic Games may be where dreams are fulfilled. Memories of the Sydney Olympics, though, have hardly helped Hamish Carter sleep easy at night.

The great New Zealand triathlete admits to still lying awake trying to work out why he was left a despondent figure in the shadow of the gleaming Opera House nearly two years ago.

"New Zealand might have been disappointed for a couple of days ... I'll be disappointed for the rest of my life," says 31-year-old Carter of his 26th finish in the first Olympics triathlon.

"That's what it's all about, aiming for your dreams. If you pull it off it is with you forever and if you don't, you don't forget that, either.

"I never thought the disappointment would wear off and I don't think it ever will. That race was pretty hard to swallow.

"High-altitude preparation can leave you feeling high or low and I didn't feel great when I woke up that morning.

"I was too tense and tried to control the race from the front. You've got to go with the flow - risk everything to win.

"They say you can struggle under the pressure at your first Olympics. Now I understand why. It's really fuelled my desire to go back."

Carter went to Sydney rated first or second in the world, depending on which ranking list you were looking at.

As the first event of the games, the triathlon also drew an extra ray of the spotlight and there was a feeling that Carter was the triathlete most likely to lift the New Zealand team with an early medal.

It turned into a runner's race as the favourites locked into fruitless battles over the swimming and cycling legs. Carter finished two-and-a-half minutes behind the winner, Canadian Simon Whitfield.

On the surface, it has been business as usual for Carter since the Olympics. He regained the world's top ranking early this season although he now lies third in a top 10 dominated by Australians and New Zealanders.

In reality, though, that Olympic race has cost him a lot and influenced his preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

"The Commonwealth Games is a big deal and I really want to do well but you've got to keep it in context," says Carter at his Mt Eden home.

Which brings up the subject of money. Sponsors stuck by Carter after the Olympics, something he is grateful for, but you can put noughts in nice places on cheques when you carry the tag of Olympic champion.

The combination of his Olympics result and injuries last year has reduced his Government funding to near zero.

Carter now has to worry more about the bottom line, rather than organising his racing schedule just to peak for the big races.

After competing in the World Cup at Edmonton on July 14, he will head to a race in Indianapolis a week later as a build-up for the Games triathlon in early August, which unlike the Olympics will be held at the end of the sporting festival.

"There's a first prize of US$50,000 at Indianapolis which is pretty much a one-off in our sport," says Carter.

"This year, money has been pretty tight for us ... there's no real money in the Commonwealth Games.

"I've got to continue making a living. Prizemoney makes up a large part of our income at the moment."

There is another consideration for Carter and his wife, Marisa. Their first child, son Austin, is just 11 months old and Carter says: "I won't see Austin at this age again."

That has helped persuade him to forgo the usual high-altitude training in Europe. Instead, he trains with former national swim coach Mark Bone at Epsom Girls Grammar, while battling the winter weather running and cycling around Auckland.

Carter was a rower and had yet to discover triathlons when Rick Wells and Erin Baker won the "demonstration sport" triathlons at the 1990 Commonwealth Game in Auckland.

Now, he has the chance to win the first true Commonwealth Games triathlon gold medal in a field made up of most of the world's best, including team-mates Craig Watson and Kris Gemmell.

And that will be a step towards the history Carter is really chasing, when the Olympics return to Greece in two years.