Triathlon: Warriner hits the wall on road leg

10.00pm - By CHRIS BARCLAY

New Zealand's Samantha Warriner was left to rue an exhausting run leg as she failed to make inroads on the leaders when the women's Olympic triathlon race reached boiling point in Athens today.

Warriner, born in England, usually favours the running leg but her reserves of energy were tapped after a tough bike leg in stifling conditions.

She finished a creditable 18th in an original field of 51, three minutes 58,62 seconds behind last-gasp winner Kate Allen, an Australian now competing for Austria.

The little-known Whangarei teacher was 22nd out of the water after the 1500m swim and improved four spots on the torturous bike leg that included five steep climbs through the plush seaside suburb of Vouliagmeni.

Warriner was in the third group to make the transition to the final 10km run leg, trailing eventual silver medallist Loretta Harrop by 2min 46sec.

The 33-year-old, who only took up triathlons four years ago, backs herself on the road leg but she was uncharacteristically sluggish.

"I didn't push as strong in my run today, that's the way it goes."

Despite comfortably exceeding her current ranking of 31st in the world, Warriner felt she was capable of a top 15 finish.

"I'm a bit disappointed. I wanted to get a bit higher but at the end of the day everyone else raced faster and better than me and good on them.

"I cycled well and swam well, so two out of three isn't bad."

The 40km bike leg was expected to be the pivotal leg in determining the medallists but the run turned out to be the key component.

Allen was 47sec slower than Harrop, a former training partner, on the bike but powered home to overtake the 2004 world championship silver medallist on the home straight.

Allen covered the course in 2hr 4min 43.45sec, 6.72sec ahead of Harrop.

American Susan Williams claimed the bronze - 25.47sec behind the adopted Austrian.

Warriner timed 2hr 8min 42.07sec.

Spurred on by her mother Jennifer and sister Nicola, Warriner, who looked fresher than some at the finish line, said she enjoyed the experience although the bike leg - highlighted by a 700m climb - ensured it was one of the toughest courses she had ever tackled.

"You don't usually get such a steep hill but it's good to have a course like that.

"It means strength riders come into it. I enjoyed it."

Warriner was happy to be in the third group switching to running shoes after handling the five climbs with relative ease.

"I knew if I could get into that bunch and hold it up the first hill I was fine. That went to plan, I just didn't run as fast as I'd planned."

Warriner, who will return to the course tomorrow to watch Hamish Carter, Bevan Docherty and Nathan Richmond mount New Zealand's challenge in the men's race, said she was proud of her achievement given her belated entry to multisport events.

"Fours years ago I never thought I'd be here, so to finish in the Olympics is great."

- NZPA