Photos: Men's Olympic triathlonKEY POINTS:
19:00: Thanks for following our live Olympics updates blog today. We'll do it all again on day 12 of the Games tomorrow, when we'll be focusing on windsurfer Tom Ashley's bid for a medal in the windsurfing medal race, and bring you all the reaction from tonight's Madison cycling race and Nick Willis' bid for 1500m glory. See you tomorrow.
18:33: Bevan Docherty has spoken about his gutwrenching effort to finish third into today's Olympic triathlon. "I had the race I wanted to today - all I asked for was the best I could and this was the best I could do," an exhausted Docherty said afterwards.
18:06: New Zealand boardsailor Tom Ashley will sail for an Olympic gold medal tomorrow just one point off the lead after his worst finish of the yachting regatta today. Ashley finished 32nd in the 10th race of the windsurfing class, which saw him surrender a three-point lead to slip to third, a point behind co-leaders Nick Dempsey of Britain and Julian Bontemps of France.
Meanwhile, Laser sailor Andrew Murdoch finished fifth overall, just six points off the bronze medal position, after winning the medal race.
17:36: Liu Xiang, China's great hope for track glory at the Beijing Games, said he was sorry for his dramatic withdrawal from the Olympics but that he had no choice because pain from a foot injury became unbearable."There's so many people concerned about me and who support me. I feel very sorry. But there's really nothing I could do," a downcast, disconsolate Liu told China Central Television in an interview aired today.
16:50: There are several other NZers in action this evening, starting with our sailors. Andrew Murdoch (Laser), Jo Aleh (Laser Radial) and Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (Star) all chasing medals from 5pm. All three crews only an outside chance of medalling.
Cyclist Hayden Roulston will go for his third medal number of the Games tonight, lining up in the Madison event with Greg Henderson at 9.30pm. And of course Nick Willis in the 1500m final at 2.50am NZT tomorrow morning.
16:20: Shane Reed finished in 34th position. Incidentally, his brother Matt was racing for the US and finished in 32nd, two places ahead of his brother.
16:15: So German Jan Frodeno wins the triathlon in a time of 1hr 48.53 seconds. Canadian Simon Whitfeld, the champion at Sydney eight years ago was second and Docherty, the silver medallist in Athens was third. World champion Javier Gomez was fourth. It certainly was a battle of the big guns. For the record Doherty finished 12 seconds off the lead. Still no word on where Shane reed finished. Kris Gemmell had to pull out with injury.
And they're having the medal ceremony now! That didn't take long ...as the German national anthem rungs out around Beijing.
16:05: Bad news in the hockey I'm afraid, NZ have lost 3-1 to Germany. They are now out of medal contention. Heartbreaking stuff.
15:56: What a finish. Frodendo from Germany and Whitfeld with a withering finish take the top two spots, Docherty holds off Gomez for third, he faded badly in the final 400m. What a great race and NZ's seventh medal of the Games. Well done Bevan Docherty. And it's all happening for the Germans, they've scored another goal in the hockey, now 3-1 to Germany, 20 minutes to go.
15:48: Gomez is gone, Docherty is gone but it's the German who wins. Docherty finishes third.
15:45: Whitfeld from Canada is gone. It's down to three with 2km to go. Docherty, Gomez and a German. Absolutely nothing in it. Docherty looking good.
15:43: Docherty has moved into second next to Gomez, they're side-by-side.
15:38: NZ have struck back in the hockey. A Hayden Shaw drag flick from a penalty corner closes the gap to 2-1 Germany, half an hour to go. Docherty still fourth, five bunched, they've reeled Gomez in. Docherty looking good side-by-side at the front with 2kms to go. Now the lead group's down to four. They're into the last lap. Nothing in it.
15:30: World champion Javier Gomez is turning up the pace at the 4km mark. Docherty is apparently under instructions to bide his time and make his move with 4kms to go. But Gomez is gone. He's just taken off. Docherty is trying to go with him. They've reeled in the leaders. Docherty is fourth, Gomez leads. There is four runners in it. Five kms to go.
15:26: Halftime in the hockey still 2-0 Germany over NZ. And the triathlon field is strung far and wide with Docherty and Gemmell in the lead group trying to run down the two leaders. The gap between the two leaders and the main group (including the Kiwis) is down to 25 seconds. It's been halved. And Gemmell is gone. Something's happened and he's out of the race. It's all on Docherty for a medal now.
15:17: Zeebroek and Bockel are off their bikes and on to the run. Docherty is in 12th, Gemmell in 11th. The gap to the two leaders is 55 seconds.
15:08: The NZers are stepping it up in the triathlon. Reed and Docherty have gone out after the breakaway trio, trying to cut into the deficit. The gap between from the three leaders to Docherty and Reed in fourth and fifth is 44 seconds. Now into the last lap on the bike.
And no change in the hockey, still 2-0 to Germany.
15:02: A breakaway group of three are trying to make the decisive move. They're 20 seconds in front. The chasing pack is 40 strong. Reed is in 14th, Gemmell 21st and Docherty 31st, but they're bunched. Docherty conserving his energy, letting others lead the pack. Look for a massive run from Docherty.
14:48: A shocking start for our hockey men, 2-nil down to Germany after 15 minutes. The winner goes through to the semis.
14:44: This could become a lottery. Fifty-five in the triathlon field and most of them are bunched in one peleton. Docherty is in 21st place in the middle of the main bunch. Hirokatsu Tayama of Japan is trying to make a break at the front but he's not favoured and no one's chasing him. Coming up to halfway through the cycle leg. Reed and Gemmell also in the main bunch.
14:34: Better news on the NZ front with Docherty up into 11th, a third of the way into the cycle.
14:30: Updating the Kiwis, Docherty exited the water in 30th place 23 seconds off the lead, Gemmell in 41st 44 seconds back. The race favourite Javier Gomez is in eighth place, seven seconds off the lead.
14:24: The triathlon's cycle leg consists of six laps of 6.6km track. Midway through the first lap Reed has dropped off the front. Alistair Brownlee from Great Britain and Frederic Belaubre from France have made a break on the field of around 50 metres.
14:18: Just under 200m to the finish of the swim, Reed still leading with a pack of a dozen in close pursuit. And a reminder, 15 minutes until the hockey, NZ v Germany sudden death. The winner to go straight through to the final four. And Reed is out of the water and into the transition zone. He is now on his bike and he's away.
14:02: They are underway in the men's triathlon. Kiwi Shane Reed is the early leader in the swim. Docherty staying close to Gomez in the early going. The distances for the event, 1.5km swim, 40km cycling and 10km run. Docherty said, before the race, he wanted to stay near the lead and then take it in the run. That's where he thinks he can win it. We'll see what happens. Gomez is the better swimmer.
13:30: Welcome to day 11 from Beijing as we build to the start of the men's triathlon from 2pm NZT. All your updates right here. Athens silver medallist Bevan Docherty will lead the NZ medal hunt with support from Kris Gemmell and Shane Reed. Their biggest threat to come from race favourite Javier Gomez of Spain.
Our hockey men are also in action against Germany at 2.30pm - win and they're through to the semis, draw or lose and they'll play for the minor places.
And we'll be following sailing with Andrew Murdoch (Laser), Jo Aleh (Laser Radial) and Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams (Star) all chasing medals from 5pm. All three crews only an outside chance of medalling.
