AIR New Zealand Ironman organisers have received full support for their
decision not to allow Swiss athlete Olivier Bernhard to start in Saturday's
race in Taupo.

Bernhard had a 12 month drugs ban suspended while he appealed his case to
the Lausanne-based court of arbitration.

The Swiss triathlete arrived in Auckland at the weekend to prepare for
Saturday's race despite claims from race director Keith Thorpe that he had
been informed his entry would not be accepted.

``Under the rules of the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), which owns the
Ironman franchise, every Ironman competitor is an invitee, and we decided
to withhold the invitation for Bernhard to race,'' Thorpe said.

``We consulted with the event owners Air New Zealand, our sponsors, the
management company IMG, Events Taupo and the governing body of the sport,
Triathlon New Zealand.

``They all backed our decision 100 per cent.''

``We felt that while the case is being appealed it would not be in the
best interest of the event to allow the entry, especially this year when we are
at a new venue in Taupo.''

Thorpe said that had Bernhard been allowed to start, all prizemoney and
trophies would have to be held pending the result of his appeal and qualifying
spots for the world championship in Kona could not be finalised.

``In our view that would have made things a farce and we were not prepared
to jeopardise our sponsors, the people of Taupo and the other 780 athletes
for one.''

Bernhard is reported to be seeking legal recourse to allow him to start on
Saturday including an approach to the international court of arbitration,
while the Ironman organisers have also sought legal opinion on their decision.

The Swiss athlete is no newcomer to controversy at the New Zealand Ironman,
finishing third last year in Auckland when he was stood down by four
minutes for cutting the course on the run, ending up only three minutes 30
seconds behind the race winner.

Following the Auckland race, Bernhard tested positive at the world long
distance duathlon championships in Zofingen, Switzerland for the banned
steroid Nandrolone.

Bernhard appealed his 12 month ban under the basis that his body produces
abnormally high levels of the steroid naturally which affected the test and
his ban has been suspended for the time of the proceedings to avoid any
claim for damages should the appeal be accepted.

Ironman New Zealand franchise is owned by WTC which is not part of the
International Triathlon Union, and event organisers believe they are within
their right to withhold the invitation in accordance with their event rules.

``The people in Taupo have done a wonderful job in hosting this event. We
did not want this first event here tainted because of this drugs situation.''

A record 780 competitors will lineup on the shores of Lake Taupo at 7am
on Saturday morning for the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run.