Multisport: Shoeless Samuels ruled off podium

Nicky Samuels was reinstated into the race after being disqualified but it cost her a podium spot at the Oceania triathlon championships on Saturday.

The Wanaka triathlete was given a red card in the last 200m for running barefoot, after suffering a cut to her left foot during the run.

But she was officially given third spot for the New Zealand championships, held in conjunction with the Oceania event in Wellington.

She did not know the exact reason for the problem but thought it was caused either by the lining of her shoe or by a foreign object in the shoe.

"It was very painful and I took my shoe off and tried to run with just one shoe but it was too awkward and I took the other one off as well," Samuels (27) told the Otago Daily Times after her run.

Samuels took off her shoes halfway through the 10km run.

"I was told by an official that I couldn't continue," Samuels said.

"I told them I'd finish the race and talk afterwards."

Samuels won the protest because the officials did not warn her first.

She was given a 1min penalty and still finished third in the elite category in the New Zealand championships.

But a successful protest by Emma Jackson (Australia) saw Samuels pushed off the podium in the Oceania championship.

Under International Triathlon Union rules a triathlete cannot compete barefoot at any time during the run leg.

"I knew the rule, but thought it meant that I had to carry my shoes to the finish," Samuels said.

Samuels had no option because she is at the start of her international racing season and could not afford aggravating the injury.

The key moment in the women's race occurred late on the bike, when Samuels led a breakaway with fellow New Zealanders Debbie Tanner and Andrea Hewitt.

They broke clear of a group of three others with 6km left on the fifth and final lap of the 40km cycling leg.

Samuels made the decisive move into the wind, and was eventually joined by Hewitt and Tanner.

"No-one else was prepared to do any extra work so I decided to have a go to break up the field," Samuels said.

"I waited for Andrea and Debbie and we worked together."

Samuels and Hewitt shared the work but Tanner just sat on them.

They got a gap on the rest of the field, hung on, and the world-class trio led by 52 seconds heading into the run.

Hewitt won the New Zealand and Oceania titles for the 3km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run in 2hr 6min 34sec from Tanner (2hr 7min 22sec) and Samuels (2hr 8min 48sec, adjusted time).

Samuels was pushed back into fourth in the Oceania event after Jackson's protest.

Laurent Vidal (France) won the elite men's race in 1hr 53min 9sec but was not eligible to claim either the New Zealand or Oceania titles.

The top three were New Zealanders Kris Gemmell (1hr 53min 21sec) and Ben Pattle (1hr 53min 46sec) and Australian David Matthews (1hr 53min 47sec).

Samuels and fellow Wanaka triathlete Tony Dodds won the seven-event New Zealand series for women and men and took the two cups home.

Dodds finished 12th in the men's race on Saturday in 1hr 55min 44sec.