Former New Zealand triathlete Shane Reed has died at 49 after reportedly having brain cancer.
Reed competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and was a three-time ITU Aquathon world champion between 1998 and 2004.
World Triathlon published a video tribute to Reed, saying it “would like to express its deepest sadness for the loss of NZL Olympian Shane Reed and would like to pay tribute, honouring the exceptional role model that he will be remembered as.”
“World Triathlon offers condolences and support to Shane’s family, friends and teammates…”
Reed, had links to Taranaki but lived in Palmerston North with wife Tammy and their two children, and had been head coach at the Kiwi West Aquatics.
He was 34 when he competed at the Beijing Olympics where his brother Matt, then aged 32, was representing the United States in the same race.
Shane Reed led the field out of the water and pushed hard on the bike leg in a race where his Kiwi teammate Bevan Docherty earned a bronze medal.
Reed eventually finished 34th.
He had 112 starts on the ITU world circuit for 20 podium places and nine wins.
Regularly ranked among the top 25 triathletes in the world, he finished in the top 15 in 2005.
Reed was a master in the ITU Aquathon championships – involving a 2.5km run followed by a 1.5km swim and another 2.5km run – winning world titles in Noosa in 1998 and 1998 and in Madeira, Spain in 2004.
He won the first two world aquathon titles and his brother Matt the third.
The 2004 season was a golden one for Reed, who won a World Cup race in Tiszaújváros, Hungary and a European Cup event in Zundert, in the Netherlands to go with his world aquathon crown.
In 2017 Reed won the World Masters Games 40 to 44 years men’s triathlon title in Auckland.
Early in his career, Reed based himself on Queensland’s Gold Coast and spent several years trying to make the Australian triathlon team.
He switched allegiance to New Zealand in 1998, saying: “I want to make the Olympics, it’s been a big goal of mine since I was a kid. I thought I had no possible way of making it racing for Australia so I swapped.’’
Reed was a talented cartoonist, who, early in his career, used to contribute cartoons to triathlon magazines.
