KEY POINTS:
A pair of World Cup victories in Mexico yesterday reinforced New Zealand's standing as one of the premier triathlon nations.
And a significant structural shakeup planned for next year could further embellish New Zealand's reputation in the sport.
The double top finish by Sam Warriner and Kris Gemmell yesterday was especially significant for Whangarei athlete Warriner, who finishes the year world No 1, becoming the first New Zealand woman to hold the spot since Jenny Rose 14 years ago.
"It's fantastic," Triathlon New Zealand chief executive Dave Beeche said. "The World Cup circuit is pretty competitive. Sam will be stoked to win this, and in some respects will feel a bit redeemed after Beijing."
Warriner finished a disappointing 16th in the Olympic race, but her World Cup form was solid in six races, where she had two wins, a second and two thirds, including the world championships in Vancouver.
"This is what I wanted," Warriner said after the win at humid Huatulco, on the southern coast of Mexico, over the Olympic distance of 1.5km swim, 40km bike leg and 10km run.
"This is a fairytale ending to the year. I've worked so hard for this."
Warriner was 30s back after the swim, made up ground on the bike and, after fellow New Zealander Andrea Hewitt had led at the start of the run, she moved clear to win in 2h 14m 02s.
She finished 43s clear of American Sarah Groff, with Britain's Andrea Whitcombe a further 17s in third.
Hewitt finished sixth in 2:17.58, and ended the year 17th overall. Warriner, who needed to finish seventh or better to clinch the crown, won with 282 points, 26 points ahead of Australian Felicity Abram who missed the event.
Gemmell won in a tight finish yesterday by nine seconds from American Jarrod Shoemaker after the pair broke clear late in the run. Gemmell recorded 2:03.23 and finished the year 12th overall on 129 points, with Spain's Javier Gomez the runaway champion, and Kiwi Bevan Docherty second 54 points behind.
Big changes are in train for triathlon next year. The world championship is changing from a one-off event to a six-race series, culminating in a grand finale, which next year will be on the Gold Coast in September.
The World Cup circuit will still be in place, but reduced from this year's 13 down to about eight, and designed to sit a tier below the rejigged world champs circuit.
The International Triathlon Union is expected to reveal the venues for both circuits next month. TNZ has applied for New Plymouth to again host a World Cup event and is confident of getting approval.
The idea behind the souped-up world championship programme is to take the sport to the major international cities.
So whereas the World Cup will still be held in smaller venues - this year's circuit included events at Kitzbuehl, Mooloolaba and Lorient in France - the plan is for the championship races to be in big-ticket locations.
Negotiations are in train with New York, London and Paris and live television coverage is planned.
Allowing athletes to gather points over several events, rather than having all resting on one race, should help New Zealand, Beeche said.
He pointed to athletes like Warriner who are able to put together a string of consistent performances as being likely to benefit from the new structure.
"It could get even better for us."
