Hamish Carter has been around a long time, and so often the bridesmaid. He was the number one triathlete in the world without a major race win to his name, and if ever a guy deserved the Gold Medal at Athens, Hamish Carter is the man.

At 33 years of age, Hamish has been NZ Triathlon's greatest servant, inspiring so many of our juniors to become elite triathletes - one of which was the Silver medallist Bevan Docherty - and to his absolute credit Docherty had nothing but praise and admiration for Carter's win.

When asked how he felt as the two NZ flags were raised and the national anthem was played, Carter replied,"It was really emotional. I thought, i've done it, this is it, the pinnacle of my career".

Carter admitted to 'barely keeping it together' as tears rolled down has face atop the podium.

"There are so many people who all deserve a part of this. Everyone has contributed to the puzzle".

Credit should not only go to Carter and his team mates, wife Marissa, training partners (Kris Gemmel and co.), High Performance manager Mark Elliot, swim coach Mark Bone and long standing coach Chris Pilone.

One of the good guys of triathlon, Hamish Carter will be a very popular champion.

Full story on Carter, Docherty and the team behind them in the next issue of NZ Multisport Magazine.

200