Triathlon: This is all I ever wanted, says champ

By EUGENE BINGHAM

For his decade-long career, Hamish Carter has been the Mr Consistency who has never won the big one.

Last night, he changed all that, capping off his career with the ultimate prize - an Olympic gold medal.

Four years ago in Sydney, he came into the race with the pressure of expectation on him and bombed. In Athens, attention was on another New Zealander, Bevan Docherty, the eventual silver medallist.

Carter, 33, had spent his career dominating New Zealand triathlon until Docherty came along. This year, Docherty achieved something Carter never had - a world championship title.

The Olympic race was probably Carter's last chance to earn something that had eluded him during a decade of top finishes in the sport, and to regain the ascendancy over fierce rival and countryman Docherty.

"This is all I ever wanted," he said last night. "I've tried for 12 years to win the big one and today I did it.

"I felt great and I was relaxed. In Sydney I was so stressed out, too wound up, I was just thinking about winning."

In the build-up to Athens, he changed his approach. Having a family meant he was much less self-focused, and gave him some perspective in life.

And having Docherty around took the pressure of expectation off him.

"I had been the target for a number of years and Bevan had suddenly become a real force in my sport. He's a great athlete and he knocked me off my perch for a wee while. That really allowed me to come into this race with a little bit more relaxation and it really helped. Bevan is such a rival it also forced me to lift my game."

The pair approached the race as a team, along with the third member of the New Zealand team, Nathan Richmond.

But they did most of their training alone, even during the last seven weeks at a camp in the south of France.

Achieving the gold was a dream Carter had held since childhood, but when it came, he could not believe it: "There was relief, exhilaration, it's so hard to describe.

"A gold medal is something I dreamed about for so long. And you never know if you are going to be able to do it but when you do it, it's like is this really happening?"

Watching the flag going up was an emotional moment because he realised it was such an honour to join the truly elite of New Zealand sport - the Walkers, Snells, Halbergs, Fergusons and Williams.

"I lost it. My whole life, my dream was realised. It still hasn't sunk in."

Asked about his plans for retirement, he said: "I haven't thought about it, but I have to get a real job eventually, don't I."