The start lists have been confirmed for the opening round in the ITU Dextro Energy World Championship Series in Sydney next month and it highlights the huge task facing the New Zealanders as they pursue a final shot at earning an automatic nomination to the team for London 2012.
While already significant as the race marks the start of the ITU World Champs Series in Olympic year, the race is also the final chance for New Zealanders to nab an automatic nomination to the London team, with the first Kiwi home inside the top 8 finishers overall earning that honour. In the women's race if the already qualified Andrea Hewitt is first home under this criteria, the nomination will roll down to the next Kiwi finisher provided they are inside the top 8.
The women's race has all the stars of the sport on the start line and the men's race - while not as strong through the absence of the Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan and Spain's Javier Gomez, still includes the best of the rest with the French, Australian, Canadian, German and Russian teams very strong as they chase vital ranking points in the race for London.
Triathlon New Zealand National Coach Greg Fraine says the quality will be high for a race so early in the season.
"Obviously London this year changes the game a little as athletes look to peak at the right time of the year but also earn sufficient points to be on their national teams. Complicating things further is the race to be amongst the top 8 countries that earn 3 starting spots in London.
"The women's field is at absolute full strength all the top names from the last 3 season are on the start list, this will be a great race and a great test for our athletes.
"The men's field is missing the top 3 ranks athletes from 2011 in the Brownlee brothers and Gomez. Outside of these three though the field contains the top Frenchmen with Laurent Vidal and David Hauss and Canadian Simon Whitfield, all of whom have spent their summer preparing in New Zealand. The German, Russian and Australian federations will start their full strength squads in Sydney as they chase those ranking points and a place inside the top 8 nations.
"As a selection race Sydney will provide us with an opportunity to observe and test our athletes at the top level of performance, exactly the scenario we want in the lead up to an Olympic race, it will be incredibly tough but a great environment in which to judge our athletes."
Meanwhile attention turns to the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup race this weekend and while most of the New Zealanders will bypass the race, a number of contenders for Sydney will be on the start line in the ITU World Cup event, again chasing those ranking points. For New Zealand just Clark Ellice will race in the men's race while in the women's Andrea Hewitt and Kate McIlroy will take the chance to get some racing into the legs before Sydney, as well as youngsters Simmone Ackerman and Sophie Corbidge.
There is also a Continental Cup race on Sunday featuring a large team of young New Zealand athletes, a more detailed preview of that race and the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup race will follow later in the week.
In the race for the top 8 nations to gain 3 starting spots in London, following the Oceania Championships in Australia New Zealand is ranked 7th in the women's Olympic rankings, with Debbie Tanner our third ranked athlete at 30th. In the men's rankings Kris Gemmell moved up the rankings with his runner up finish in Devonport, lifting New Zealand to 4th on the Olympic rankings list.
