World rankings won with years of work

By DAVID LEGGAT

New Zealand's double Olympic triathlon triumph didn't just happen overnight.

Several years ago, former prominent triathlete and coach John Hellemans set up an academy in Christchurch, with the help of government funding.

Among the up-and-comers on the fringe of the academy was Bevan Docherty, silver medallist behind compatriot Hamish Carter in the Olympic event this week.

Olympic team manager and Triathlon New Zealand's high-performance manager, Mark Elliott, remembers the early days.

He knows how much work went into turning the sport from being viewed as a bits-and-pieces, quirky alternative to mainstream single sport.

"I had the dream that this would happen and we had planned for it to happen," Elliott told the Weekend Herald.

"For the sport it's an accumulation of a lot. It started with John Hellemans, whose academy was ahead of its time.

"That's gone on from the passion that John's shown for the sport.

"I've developed that same passion and I've been lucky to have a great group of people behind me to take it through."

Take a glance at the men's world ranking list. Five of the first 15 are New Zealanders: Docherty at No 2, Shane Reed at 8, Carter at 9, Kris Gemmell at 13 and the just-retired Craig Watson at 14.

In few other sports would you find one country with a comparable dominance of that sport's ranking list.

"What it means is that we've had a programme in place that's worked for our sport," Elliott said.

"We've got some coaches who are world leaders. Take [Carter's coach] Chris Pilone. He's an athletics coach, and he's transferred his skills there to making Hamish the best triathlete in the world."

Elliott said that although he had worked with Docherty for several years, many coaches were offering ideas and feeding off each other's thoughts. Elliott is responsible for 15 coaches.

"All that drives us forward," he added.

Former world No 1 Australian Greg Bennett finished fourth in Athens. He compared New Zealand's triathlon culture favourably with that of his country.

"They've got great depth, just like Australia. Theirs is a strongman type of racing.

"They're good blokes and I know how hard they worked for it as well."