Triathlon: Hewitt crunching numbers for world title bid

It's a numbers game for Andrea Hewitt as she bids for a world triathlon title on the Gold Coast tomorrow - the ones stuck to the backs of her nearest rivals.

New Zealand's top-ranked woman heads into the world championship finale third on the overall rankings behind Australia's Emma Moffatt and Sweden's Lisa Norden.

The top two look set to fight out the title, but Hewitt can still mathematically win the overall crown if they race below their best.

After her best season on the world circuit, Hewitt is intent on maintaining her top-three position first, and has done all the sums.

The race numbering will help, with each athlete displaying her ranking position.

"I'm just going to race but I know where I am in the rankings and if these other girls are going to pass me, that's who I'm going to be chasing. I know where I'm at there, and I want to stay on the podium," she said this week.

"We've all got numbers on raceday and I'll be in No 3 so I'll know if No 4 or No 5 are close."

One major stumbling block is out, with champion Australian Emma Snowsill ruled out with a hip injury.

Moffatt is in pole position to win the title on her home soil, on 3140 points, while Norden is on 3020 and Hewitt on 2766.

It is the first year the world championship has been decided over a series rather than one race.

Hewitt's nearest challenger, Switzerland's Daniela Ryf, is 400 points back in fourth spot.

As long as Hewitt can be in touch after the cycle leg, she backs herself to be in the fight, in temperatures expected to rise towards 30C.

She has been in Australia for 2 weeks adjusting to conditions.

"It's really flat and it'll be fast. I'm fast at the moment on the run so that's going to suit me but I don't know how it's going to work after the swim on the bike."

The 27-year-old from Christchurch is enjoying some of the best form of her career, with the highlight a desperate photo-finish victory over Norden in Madrid in May which took five minutes to confirm.

Her latest effort was a second placing to the same opponent in the penultimate round in Yokohama, Japan.

"I've had a great season. It's been my best so far and I've had some really good results. It'll just be how I come out on this one. Because it's the last race of the series a lot of girls are going to be peaking, the ones that haven't raced so well this season. It's just whether my running will hold up against them."

As always, New Zealand has a strong hand in the women's race, with Debbie Tanner, Sam Warriner, Nicky Samuels and Kate McIlroy also racing. All are outside the top 15 on the world championship rankings, with Tanner the best placed at 18th.

Warriner is returning to action after a crash ruined her world championship bid early in the season and limited her to just two events.

- NZPA