By Jim Kayes
Two of New Zealand’s triathlon legends will make a return to the sport this weekend – 2004 Olympic champion Hamish Carter and former world champion Rick Wells will take part in the ITU World Cup experience in Auckland on Sunday.
However the two sporting greats have a more modest goal in mind – finishing – and Carter says “it’s not really about having a great performance”.
“It's about getting involved in the sport again on that age group side, dusting off the cobwebs and seeing how the body feels,” he says.
Wells says he has “no idea how I’m going to go” and the goal was to get to the start line.
“I’m hopefully there, barring injuries, and then the next goal will be to get to the finishing line.”
Reaching the finish line was seldom a problem when Wells was part of triathlon's growth in New Zealand, alongside the great Erin Baker in the late 1980s.
Carter picked up the baton, and with triathlon among New Zealand’s most popular sports he's sure Auckland’s World Cup debut will be a hit.
“These type of events in New Zealand have a real intimacy… there's a real local flavour,” he says.
“It's going to look amazing. You’re right in downtown Auckland and there's going to be some really close racing.”
Wells is proud at how far the sport's come in the past 20 years and says it’s great to see Auckland get behind the event.
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