Triathlon: Drained Carter collapses at the tape

Hamish Carter

Olympic champion Hamish Carter finished eighth in the Lifetime Fitness triathlon, a mixed event for men and women, in the United States yesterday.

Aucklander Carter succumbed to the extreme heat in Minneapolis, requiring medical treatment as he collapsed on the line after finishing as the fifth male and eighth overall in the $740,000 event.

Australian Craig Alexander, who won the New Zealand long distance title in Mt Maunganui in January, took the $250,000 winner's cheque.

New Zealand's world champion, Bevan Docherty, was the 10th male home and 14th overall, one place ahead of compatriot and training partner Kris Gemmell.

It was the first time a man has won a Lifetime Fitness event which saw the women benefit from a handicap of 9m 32s, the smallest in the race's four-year history.

Carter, Docherty and Gemmell were in the bunch 30 seconds down on Australian Craig Walton out of the water.

Gemmell dropped two minutes off the pace on the bike, while Carter and Docherty remained in the main bunch. Walton fell victim to the extreme heat and did not finish as Alexander and 2000 Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield, of Canada, cleared out before the Australian secured victory.

Whitfield was second and world No 1 Hunter Kemper, of the United States, third. The leading woman, Emma Snowsill, of Australia, was fourth.

Carter managed a 33m 45s split for the 10km run, suffered badly in the heat and collapsed on the line.

"I passed out on the line and the next thing I remember was being in the medical tent," Carter said.

Docherty also struggled in the heat, dropping one minute from Carter, while Gemmell, after a disappointing bike, made ground with a useful 33m 09s run split.

Meanwhile, Kapiti's Coast's Evelyn Williamson finished sixth in the ITU European Cup race in Holten, Netherlands, with fellow New Zealander Shane Reed 20th in the men's race after a mechanical problem during the bike section.

Williamson was satisfied with her performance in a race won by Britain's Helen Lawrence.

Taryn McLeod, of Dunedin, enjoyed her best performance in the elite ranks to finish 12th.

- NZPA