Tanner to Join Olympic Hopefuls in Wellington

Wellington will play host an impressive line up at the National Triathlon Championships this coming Sunday 9 March. The field will include top New Zealand and international triathletes who will be using this event as a warm up to their Olympic qualifying races.

One athlete not under qualifying pressure is 25 year old Debbie Tanner who sealed her spot on the Olympic team as the first New Zealander home at the Beijing based selection event in 2008.

Tanner is focused on the endurance phase of her training at present and will not be peaking for Sunday’s event but is looking forward to using it as a stepping stone for her Olympic build up. ‘Beijing is my ultimate goal this year and everything I do is in preparation for that. Nationals are a great opportunity to race at this early stage in the season,” said the past World Cup event winner who finished fourth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

It is one of the few occasions Tanner will race at home this year with the majority of her Olympic preparation taking place in Europe. ‘To race at home in front of my family, friends and supporters is just great and means a lot to me’.

Tanner will be racing with the Elite Women starting 10.20 am, Sunday 9 March.

Further race details:
http://www.triathlon.org.nz