A young and inexperienced New Zealand team raced bravely to finish 13th in a high quality field at the ITU Mixed Team Relay World Championships in Germany this morning.
While the eyes of many Germans were beginning to wander towards coverage of the FIFA World Cup Final in Brazil, thousands still turned out in Hamburg to witness another edition of an event that is both fast moving and fast growing in popularity.
With the Glasgow Commonwealth Games just ten days away, New Zealand rested their leading athletes and handed the responsibility to Sam Ward (Auckland), Tom Davison (Christchurch), Sophie Corbidge (Auckland) and Simone Ackermann (Whangarei) to fly the flag, and they did so proudly.
With Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee leading Great Britain to victory ahead of France and surprise medalist Hungary, the Kiwis were not overawed in that rather august company, finishing as the third ranked Commonwealth country in a highly competitive field and in doing so finished ahead of powerhouse Spain.
The kiwis were consistent throughout the race, led away by Sophie Corbidge before Sam Ward took up the challenge in impressive form with Simone Ackermann and Tom Davison bringing the Kiwis home.
The Mixed Team Relay Championships consists of 4 athletes, alternating from female to male, each completing a 'super sprint' triathlon of 300m swim, 6.6km bike and 1.6km run.
Results: ITU Mixed Team Relay World Championships
Hamburg, Germany
1. Team Great Britain 01:19:07
2. Team France 01:19:11
3. Team Hungary 01:19:31
4. Team Australia 01:19:52
5. Team United States 01:20:07
Plus
13 Team New Zealand 01:21:52
Sophie Corbidge 20:46
Sam Ward 19:24
Simone Ackermann 21:57
Tom Davison 19:46
