Triathlon: Injuries frustrate champion

If only Olympic gold medallist Emma Snowsill listened to her body, maybe she would be racing in Sydney today .

Snowsill has been plagued by a string of injuries and illness, which forced her out of competition for most of last season and resulted in her sitting on the sidelines during the opening race of the 2010 world championships.

The 29-year-old said her desire to continually push her body to its limits had taken its toll.

"The body just went, 'no you're not listening, we're going to hit you with something else now'," Snowsill said.

"You push your body so much for so long, I really needed to rest and that's what my body wanted."

Snowsill's injury woes began at the start of 2009 when she cracked a rib surfing at Byron Bay.

The three-time world champion then suffered a hip injury, which required arthroscopic surgery in late July to fix a labral tear and cartilage damage.

Just when she was ready to start getting back into full training she was struck down with a virus during the summer ,which ruled her out of Sunday's race.

Snowsill said there were times she began to get depressed as the onslaught of bad health continued.

"You do begin to think why now? Why me?" she said.

"I'm a professional athlete and I expect the most of myself but you have to remind yourself you have a good life.

"Things like that really bring it back into perspective and that you're only out for a small time in the grand scheme of things. It will pass and you live and learn."

Snowsill said she was close to full health and back into full training.

She said has not set her eyes on any particular race but is determined to be back on the track within the next one or two months.

"I'm being super simple about being dictated by my body," Snowsill said.

"When I get another couple of weeks under my belt, I'm really going to target a race."

The men's race today begins at 9am and the women's at 9:45am.

- AAP