Multisport: Terenzo's bold move pays dividends

Former world junior champion Terenzo Bozzone will compete in his first senior world championships next week, despite triathlon bosses being initially uncomfortable with his decision to bypass under-23s.

Bozzone, who won the world juniors in 2002 and in Queenstown in 2003, has made the difficult transition straight from juniors to elite, bypassing the under-23 level considered important for development.

Triathlon New Zealand high-performance manager Stephen Farrell said the jump from juniors to elite was "huge".

Farrell said Bozzone's reason for the jump was simple.

"He wants to move up fast," Farrell said. "It was a personal decision he made after consultation with his coaches [Frank Clarke and John Ackland]. Without sounding harsh, I would have rather he stayed at under-23 level but I respect his decision."

Bozzone has always been his own man when it comes to his sport.

After the world champs in Portugal in 2004 - when he was going for an unprecedented hat-trick of junior titles - he found himself ostracised by team-mates who believed his stopping on the course to assist asthma-inflicted Ben Pattle was a convenient excuse for a preparation blighted by his appearance on Celebrity Treasure Island.

While the snub hurt Bozzone, he got his head down and started working, impressing his sceptics within the triathlon community.

The respect level would have lifted even more when the results starting coming in. Bozzone finished fourth in his first elite ITU event in Hawaii, an event most athletes used to blow out the off-season cobwebs.

He hasn't reached those heights since but finished an encouraging 13th in his last event at Edmonton, Canada, finishing behind Hamish Carter (6th) and Bevan Docherty (7th).

As it stood at August 14, Bozzone was 18th in the world on the ITU rankings, ahead of Carter and Docherty. "We've been very happy with the results," Farrell said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY