Triathlon: Kiwis bag bronze in world team champs

Kate McIlroy. Photo / Greg Bowker

The New Zealand team of Ryan Sissons, Tony Dodds, Kate McIlroy and Nicky Samuels won the bronze in a thrilling race at the world team championships in Switzerland yesterday.

New Zealand finished behind back-to-back winners Switzerland and France, despite fielding an inexperienced lineup without the likes of Andrea Hewitt, Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell.

Switzerland won in 1h 13m 31s, with New Zealand clocking 1:14.21s.

Dodds was delighted with the success of the team.

"We had enjoyed a thrilling battle with the Swiss and French throughout the race when we handed over to Ryan Sissons, our anchor," Dodds said.

"Ryan is a good hill rider and a quick runner but he needed to catch the front in the swim if we were to be a chance of gold - it wasn't to happen though as Switzerland's Sven Reiderer rode away from the field on the final leg to leave us and France to battle it out for second."

Competitors raced on four-person teams, with two men and two women representing each country.

Each athlete contested a 275m swim, 6km bike and 1.5km run, before tagging a team member to begin the next leg.

- NZPA