Triathlon: Third Kiwi triathlete willed compatriots on through the pain

Nathan Richmond underwent the toughest day of his triathlon career and was lost in the trample of congratulations for medal-winning teammates Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty - but he didn't care.

The third and least-heralded member of the New Zealand Olympic contingent finished 33rd in the 50-strong field, obviously distressed and requiring assistance when he crossed the line.

But through all the pain brought on by energy-sapping heat and a killer hill on the cycle leg, the Aucklander felt immense pride over what was unfolding ahead of him.

"I take a little bit of their result into my result. I'm very proud of the boys and proud to be a Kiwi today," said Richmond.

"It's been a massive campaign for us all and I'm honoured to be part of it. To have two of the boys take the top spots ... fantastic sums it up pretty nicely."

In the run leg, the leaders often doubled back on the rest of the field.

Richmond took heart from regularly seeing eventual gold medallist Carter, silver medallist Docherty and Swiss third placegetter Sven Riederer clear of the rest of the field.

He didn't acknowledge his team-mates each time they crossed but was willing them on, never doubting they would seal the one-two.

Richmond received a further morale boost from the pockets of New Zealanders in the crowd and from the locals. "If the Greeks aren't doing well, they like to support the Kiwis. So I had plenty of people yelling at me that gold and silver were on the cards.

"It was motivational, it gave me a huge amount of pride."

After emerging eighth from the swim, Richmond described the cycling leg as the most intense he had experienced, his larger frame not dealing well with the 700m hill they had to climb five times.

- NZPA