Medallist McAlister welcomed home

SCOTT EADE

A large committee was on hand to welcome home Winton triathlete Troy McAlister yesterday after he produced an outstanding effort at the ITU World Championship in Beijing at the weekend.

McAlister, who attends Central Southland College, picked up a bronze medal in the World Sprint under-19 age group category and was one of two New Zealanders on the podium.

It was McAlister's first appearance at a World Championship event and to pick up a medal had bettered any expectation he had prior to the event.

"I had no expectations so there was no pressure," McAlister said.

Because of his lack of knowledge about opponents, McAlister went about placing more emphasis on planning his own race tactics with coach Sid Cumming.

Those tactics included attempting to come out of the swim first and to stick to the leaders for the cycle and run.

McAlister didn't start well and he came out of the water in sixth position.

However, he made up a massive amount of time in the transition area between the swim and bike, getting himself into first place in a matter of minutes.

For McAlister the transition area was something he spent a lot of time practising.

McAlister maintained his position for a long period of the race before being passed by an Australian and fellow New Zealander Sam Ward who won the silver medal.

Although it would have been nice to win a gold medal, picking up a bronze medal at a World Championship event was something to be pretty happy about, McAlister said.

McAlister had to find over $6000 to compete in China.

His sponsors included Julie and Kevin Moylan, of Professionals Real Estate in Winton, Wensley's Cycles, solicitor James Mee and many residents from the Winton area.

Another bonus of getting to travel the world was getting to see the sights while on tour.

During his time in China, McAlister got to view the Great Wall.

"It was amazing," he said.

After a busy 2011 schedule McAlister was looking forward to having four to six weeks off before getting back into training.

The next big event on McAlister's radar was the Youth Olympic qualification race in early 2012.

After seeing fellow Southlander and training mate Aaron Barclay win the Youth Olympic title in Singapore last year, McAlister was keen to emulate him.

- © Fairfax NZ News