Ming Tomb raiders to clash in grueling race

BEIJING (Reuters) - Triathletes will put their heat-beating skills to the test when they plunge, pedal and pound their way round a sweltering two-hour course in one of the toughest endurance events of the Beijing Olympics.

High temperatures and stifling humidity will make the women's and men's swimming, cycling and running events on Monday and Tuesday all the more grueling for athletes who in June were battling the bracing cold of the Vancouver championships.

The British have prepared for the race around the Ming Tomb reservoir by pounding treadmills in heat chambers and the Australians have brought crushed-ice drinks and cooling vests.

Others have sniffed at taking special measures.

"I'm actually hoping it's hot and humid because that's what we've been preparing for," said Britain's Helen Tucker, the 2008 women's triathlon world champion.

Most of the triathlete pack has been getting acclimatized together at a South Korean training camp, but the Spanish team drew the line at sauna work-outs and cooling vests.

"I'll compete the same way I always do," said men's world champion Javier Gomez Noya, who has dominated the sport over the past three years despite a minor heart condition.

"I prefer it colder. A milder climate. But it's not the first time I'm competing in heat and humidity," he said.

Triathlon, embodying the ideal of rippling all-round fitness, has been a hit with spectators since its Olympic debut in Sydney.

In Beijing, 55 men and 55 women will race the 1.5-km swim, 40-km cycle race and 10-km run on the mountain-fringed course.

The dam's warm water means rather than having don wetsuits for the swim leg, they can wear one lightweight suit for the whole race.

Yet temperatures above 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) and 70 percent humidity makes juggling cycling with sipping cooled energy drinks and sucking high-calorie gel especially vital.

SHOVING AND GRABBING

Gomez Noya's main rivals for the men's gold medal include Germans Daniel Unger and Jan Frodeno, and Britain's Tim Don.

The women's race will be a duel between Portugal's five-times European champion Vanessa Fernandes and three-times world champion Emma Snowsill, running with her fingernails painted in the Australian colors of green and yellow.

"She's great fun. I give her the nickname 'cheeky' and she gives me a wink and a smile," said Snowsill of her rival, adding: "You can't control anyone else out there. You just have plans A, B and C up your sleeve, depending on how the race is unfolding."

The world's top triathletes know each other's strengths and weaknesses, making for a personal and sometimes vicious contest.

The Australians have river-green suits to make it harder for rivals to spot them in the water and elbow them out of the way.

Athens gold medalist Kate Allen will race with scars from a crash after a rival knocked her off her bike in a race in April.

"We've all raced each other and at some point everyone's beaten everyone," said Australian Courtney Atkinson in the men's team. "It doesn't always pan out the way you expect."

This year's races include an 18 and a 40-year-old woman and two brothers on different teams. As well as shoving and grabbing, athletes can trip up at transition points as they hop on and off bikes and switch over to running shoes.

Cooler on Sunday, Beijing is forecast to be hot enough next week to bathe even the spectators in sweat.

As well as underarm ice-packs, the triathletes will be keeping their water cool with double-insulated bottles. The British even toyed with putting coolant in their bicycle handlebars.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)