Organisers of the New Zealand Ironman triathlon have banned last year's third placegetter, Swiss Olivier Bernhard, over a drugs row.
Bernhard arrived in Auckland yesterday hoping to wipe out memories of last year's race, when he took a wrong turn on the run leg which cost him a four-minutepenalty. He lost the race by two minutes.
But organisers do not want him anywhere near the start in the first championship to be held in Taupo on Saturday.
After being given a 12-month ban in August for returning a positive test to the testosterone-related substance nanerolone, 30-year-old Bernhard appealed and has been granted a court hearing this month.
As the case was pending, the International Olympic Committee and the International Triathlon Union lifted the ban, but that was not enough to convince race director Keith Thorpe and others he should be allowed to start.
"There is still a degree of uncertainty over the issue," said Thorpe. "This is an invitation race [for the top international competitors] and we have simply chosen not to invite him. There is a lot of hostility out there.
"But he has legal opinions which suggest that if he was to obtain a court injunction there is nothing we can do to stop him competing.
"The people at World Triathlon Corporation maintain, however, that we have the right to withhold invitations as we see fit."
Thorpe concedes Bernhard was only marginally above the legal limit for a substance which experts admit can be produced naturally.
Bernhard said he did not think other competitors would boycott the race as organisers fear.
Thorpe said the decision was taken after consultation with the race's franchise-holder, Air New Zealand, and other sponsors and organisers.
"We made the decision a month ago and sent him two faxes telling him his entry had been declined. We have now offered to refund his air fare in the hope he would not stir up muddy waters ahead of what promises to be a great first race in Taupo."
