Multisport: Young guns line up to topple a legend

Every year they line up with unshakeable confidence, eyes firmly focused on toppling perennial triathlon champion Cameron Brown in Tauranga's biggest sporting event.

And every year Brown, with a distinctly regal air, takes a certain satisfaction in putting the young triathlon lions firmly back in their places, behind him on the winner's podium in the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman.

Last year Brown even gave the young pretenders a brief verbal swipe, telling them he didn't feel like he'd been shown any respect and that he'd used that as motivation for his seventh consecutive win.

However, it is unlikely he'll be able to use that same tool again when he lines up tomorrow in a race which also doubles as the New Zealand long-distance championship.

Terenzo Bozzone and Graham O'Grady, two of the youngest and most talented triathletes making their debuts this week, are also some of Brown's biggest fans.

"He's a legend and he knows exactly what he's doing," 19-year- old Bozzone admitted. "It's going to be pretty hard for someone to knock Cameron off."

Last month Bozzone recorded a startling half ironman debut, winning the Taupo event in atrocious conditions in a super-quick time of 3h 57.03m after swimming 2km, cycling 90km and finishing with a 21km run.

That time would have been good enough for third in last year's Tauranga race and, to make it all the more extraordinary, Bozzone and training partner Kieran Doe were using Taupo strictly as a blowout.

"Taupo was pretty spontaneous - Kieran and I went down with the intention of having a fun training session. My coaches Jon Ackland and Frank Clarke told me to take it easy and pace myself through it - it's not like a normal standard distance event, it's just twice as long."

Although seemingly set to follow the remarkable Olympic distance path of Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty, Bozzone admits tomorrow's longer event held a special attraction.

"I've been down to Tauranga for the last couple of years watching the race and it's just the most amazing atmosphere. It's always sunny, the streets are always crowded and the people always cheer hard. I just wanted to be a part of it and hopefully a few people will be cheering for me."

- NZPA