Docherty and Gemmell amongst the favourites for World Series opener

Fans that enjoyed the Olympic triathlon in Beijing are in for a treat on Sunday as the best in the world assemble for the opening round of the Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series in Tonyeong Korea this Sunday.

While Jan Frodeno and Javier Gomez are absent with injury the field is a who’s who of the triathlon world and Kiwis Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell are right in the thick of it. Simon Whitfield (CAN), Courtney Atkinson (AUS), Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) and a host of others will be mentioned in dispatches as possible race winners.

And the Kiwis will very much feature with two time Olympic medalist Bevan Docherty and world number 5 Kris Gemmell looking to start the international season with a bang.

Gemmell though will be hoping for less of an impact than that suffered in New Plymouth earlier this month when his Continental Cup race came crashing down on the bike, leaving the Palmerston North athlete grazed, bruised and annoyed.

“I’m fine now; New Plymouth is nothing but a distant memory. I was out of the water for about nine days with the risk of infection in the open wound, but I tried to remain calm and did some ground stuff during that time. And once back swimming I quickly got the feel of the water back.

“This is obviously the start of something new so everyone will be fired up. There are a few guys missing but the ones on the start line are no slouches, it will be interesting to see what form they are all in. This is not the long year we are used to but a more condensed season so we will need to find form quickly.”

Gemmell is in a good frame of mind when rating his chances on Sunday.

“I’m traveling alright; I’ve certainly done the work over the summer, a continuation of what I had the year before leading into Beijing really. And that can be the key, getting back to back years, injury free and having weeks of consistent training. So yeah, I want to race well and will take some specific goals into Sunday for sure.”

Docherty has been in imperious form during the New Zealand summer but knows this will be different as he steps up into international quality racing for the first time since his easy win in the New Plymouth Continental Cup race in early April.

“It’s a great concept and means most of the races are going to be far more competitive and bring a high profile to the sport, I’m really excited about what should be a great year of racing.

“I have been fully behind the concept from the start; we have been pushing for this for a long time. The higher quality of fields will result in higher exposure around the world and hopefully back here in New Zealand.”

The world number two is not fazed at having to run close to peak form so early in the season.

“It’s all about balance between a good all round season and being in good shape for the Gold Coast in September. Every athlete will aim for different races but the big double points in September will be everyone’s main goal. I want to get off to a good start though and know that if I am fit at the start of the season, I can hold that form pretty much all the way through.

“I’ve been training pretty hard the last few months so I have been freshening up for a few days now and once I get the travel out of the way another quiet few days should have me set up nicely for Sunday.”

The race is the first of seven World Championship Series events with points counting towards end of year rankings. Each event has a prize pool of $150,000 USD with the final event on the Gold Coast in September counting double for points as athletes try for their share of a $500,000 USD bonus pool.

Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series

Tongyeong, South Korea

Elite Women

Saturday 2nd May

5.10pm NZT

Sam Warriner, Debbie Tanner, Andrea Hewitt, Nicky Samuels

Elite Men

Sunday 3rd May

5.10pm NZT

Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell

for further information visit www.triathlon.org