Bennett bids to make amends

Greg Bennett will be on a special mission when he lines up for the triathlon in Athens.

He still remembers the pain of not qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, and is determined to shine this time round.

BBC Sport profiles Bennett and three other names to watch out for in the triathlon at the Athens Olympics.

GREG BENNETT

The run was a weakness but Bennett is now strong in all legs

The Australian believes he has the recipe for success. "The Olympic Games are about experience and ego. I have a big ego," he has said.

His experience goes without saying with the Canadian-based athlete holding the world number one ranking for the better part of the last two years.

He lost that to New Zealand's Bevan Docherty after this year's world championships when he failed to finish.

However, he has been blighted by an Achilles injury this year and was happy enough to relinquish top spot so long as it helps in his all-consuming efforts to win gold.

Bennett is intent on making up for the misery of missing out on qualification for his home Olympics four years ago, is known for meticulous preparation and after the worlds he was off to Athens to recce the course.

Regardless of his result at the Olympics, Bennett will have cause for celebration post-Athens when he takes the plunge and marries the other half of the sport's golden couple, American Laura Rebeck.

IVAN RANA

The triathlon is often viewed as the domain of Australians, Americans and Canadians, but Rana is out to ruin that theory.

The Spaniard finished fifth at the last Olympics when aged 21, but in the intervening four years he has won a wealth of experience, and medals.

Rana's golden year came in 2002 when he won world, European and national titles. His world win was Spain's first gold medal in the event.

In 2003 he came home second at the world championships behind Australia's Peter Robertson and he had to settle for silver earlier this year as well.

In Madeira, a course he knows and likes, Rana came home less than a second behind Kiwi Docherty, although that failure will no doubt spur him on at the Olympics.

Rana's strength is the final leg and opponents will be wary of the Spaniard on the run until they breach the finishing line.

BARB LINDQUIST

The American missed out on a spot at the 2000 Sydney Olympics - "the hardest thing I've had to deal with in my life" - and is out to make amends this time around.

She has been in the world's top five since 1999 and last year the 35-year-old won more races than any other athlete to finish top of the rankings.

However, she failed to cap it with a medal at the world championships, finishing fourth having set the early pace, but had a word of warning for her opponents, saying, "I know there is still room for improvement".

That improvement again failed to materialise at this year's worlds where she finished seventh, but with Olympic qualification already in the bag she could afford to pace herself.

And Lindquist, who is coached by her husband, remains the world number one going into the big one - the Olympics.

She likes to go from the gun, having represented her country in swimming, and often works in tandem with compatriot Sheila Taormina thereafter.

MAXINE SEEAR

Seear, a horsewoman in her childhood, took up the sport in 2002 "for a bit of fun".

Fast forward two years and the 19-year-old is heading to the Olympics having won Australia's discretionary third spot in the team ahead of Michellie Jones and Emma Snowsill.

Jones is a legend on the female circuit, a former world champion and Olympic silver medallist. Snowsill was the world champion at the time.

The youngster was not named in the original squad of athletes under consideration but, after coming second in the first trial race and winning the second, the selectors reconsidered their options.

Seear's selection capped a sensational debut professional season when she was merely aiming to gain experience to take to major championships such as the 2006 Commonwealth Games and beyond.

The selectors will be hoping she has gathered enough to continue her soaraway success in Athens.