By DONNA SPENCER -- Canadian Press
TORONTO -- With the Olympic Games only 10 weeks away, Saturday's Toronto Triathlon offers a sneak peek at the men and women who will be going for gold in Sydney this September.

The Toronto Triathlon, which is an International Triathlon Union World Cup event, features the top triathletes in the world, including four-time world champion Simon Lessing of England, two-time women's world champion Michellie Jones of Australia, world No.1-ranked Hamish Carter of New Zealand, top American Hunter Kemper, world 1999 champion Dimitry Gaag of Kazakhstan and world silver medallist Carol Montgomery of North Vancouver.

The race will also include Canada's Olympic triathlon team, as soon as the Canadian Olympic Association rubber stamps it, which is Montgomery, Sharon Donnelly of Kingston, Ont., Isabelle Turcotte-Baird of Quebec and Simon Whitfield of Victoria.

"It's a great opportunity to showcase triathlon in Canada and a great opportunity to use it for my Olympic preparation because the pressure is quite similar to what it will be like in Sydney," said Whitfield. "I love racing in Canada. I love it when the red and white flags come out."

The triathlon, a 1.5-kilometre swim, a 40-kilometre bike and a 10-kilometre run, will be an Olympic event for the first time in Sydney. Since they excel in the event, the Australians wanted to introduce the triathlon to the Games.

The International Olympic Committee wanted the short event instead of the Ironman distance because the Olympic distance is more easily packaged for television. The women's race is the first medal event in Sydney and will be shown during prime time in North America.

The swim for the Toronto Triathlon will be at Ontario Place followed by nine bike laps on what is basically the Molson Indy circuit, followed by the run of four laps on the same course.

The Toronto race is a chance for all the athletes to gage their own level of fitness as well as the opposition's going into Sydney.

"You don't want to get a setback eight weeks before the games and find out you're really not in the ball park with some of these other guys," said national team coach Barrie Shepley. "There's fine tuning you can do but you don't have big blocks of time to start making dramatic changes to your training."

The women will be shooting for times under the two-hour mark and the men will be around one hour 50 minutes.

The main subplot centres around Lessing, who skipped the world championship in Perth in May as well as a World Cup event in Sydney two weeks prior to that.

"He's frightening to guys," said Shepley. "But his mantle was shattered twice last year when twice guys outran him in the final half-mile.

"Toronto will be a good chance for people to see him. I think it's one of the reasons some of the athletes are coming from Australia, the U.S. and other countries for this event. They want to see where he is at."

Australia's Peter Robertson is also in the field. He came out of nowhere to win the World Cup in Sydney and place second in Perth. Robertson runs with religious Maori sticks, of Australia's aboriginal people, in each hand for luck.

The Canadian team has its own share of stories.

Montgomery, 34, faced retirement when she needed major surgery on her leg in December. She recovered to win a World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in March and win silver at worlds. She has also ran a COA qualifying time in the 10,000 metres and is awaiting word on whether she will be able to be a two-sport athlete in Sydney.

Donnelly, 33, is the 1999 Pan Am Games gold medallist and serves in the Canadian military. Turcotte-Baird, 30, quit her job as a physiotherapist less than two years ago to fulfil her dream of making Canada's Olympic team.

Whitefield, 24, is one of the top triathlon prospects in the world. He was seventh in the world in 1999, won the Pan Am Games bronze medal and was second in the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in March. His world championship this year ended on the bike when he had a flat tire.

He could compete well into his 30s and if Toronto wins the 2008 Olympic bid, may be racing the same course he will be on this Saturday. But 2008 is a long way off. A good result on Saturday will be a confidence-booster for Sydney.

"My real goal for the Toronto Cup is a podium finish," said Whitfield. "It's a very competitive field so a podium finish would be fantastic. That would set me up well and would tell me my preparation is going well."

CBC will broadcast the Toronto Triathlon on July 15 and July 22 and will be repeated on July 23 and July 30.

Quick Glance

Race -- 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bike, 10-kilometre run.

Number of athletes -- 85.

Number of Canadians -- 26.

Total prize money -- $100,000.

Television -- CBC tape delay on July 15 at noon and July 22 at noon; repeated on July 23 at midnight and July 30 at midnight.

Who to watch -- Carol Montgomery, North Vancouver, B.C.; Michellie Jones, Australia; Simon Lessing, Britain; Hamish Carter, New Zealand; Dimitri Gaagg, Kazakhstan; Simon Whitfield, Victoria; Hunter Kemper, U.S.; Sharon Donnelly, Kingston, Ont.; Isabelle Turcotte-Baird, Quebec.