For the first time in any sport since the Coe-Ovett era, Great Britain will have two competitors, each with a genuine chance of victory, going for the same Olympic gold medal next weekend. Appropriately for a discipline born in the surf off Hawaii, Simon Lessing and Andrew Johns sat by the Pacific Ocean at Surfers Paradise yesterday, talking optimistically about their chances in the triathlon.

Strange as it may seem, neither has his coach with him. For Lessing it was unfortunate, for Johns no change. Lessing is largely self-coached but the trainer he uses for swimming, Robin Brew, has returned home for personal reasons. Johns's coach was never invited. Brett Sutton, a convicted sex offender, is behind Johns's rise to the top and UK Sport, which distributes the National Lottery funding underpinning the team, considers him persona non grata.

Johns had to sign an agreement saying that none of his Lottery support would go to his coach. Furthermore, Sutton has been exiled by the world governing body. Johns won the European title two months ago and followed that up with a victory in the final World Cup race before the Olympics, in Lausanne. But Sutton is as unwelcome at World Cup events as he would be in Australia.

He is denied access to World Cup sites, while the International Triathlon Union instructs national governing bodies not to pay him for coaching and tries to persuade athletes to have nothing to do with him. He was removed as the co-ordinating national coach of Triathlon Australia and has no position within the British Triathlon Association.

Sutton pleaded guilty last year to having sexual relations 12 years ago with a 15-year-old girl whom he was coaching. This led to his dismissal by Triathlon Australia and the irony so far as the Olympics is concerned is that Johns, a former Australian, appears to have a better chance of Olympic gold than any of three men picked by the host nation. Even more irritating for Australia is that the first gold medal of the Games may well be won by Loretta Harrop, an Australian whom Sutton also coaches.

Johns, who switched allegiance to Britain in 1997, argues that Sutton is the ideal man for the job. "I have no doubts that Brett is the best coach," Johns said yesterday. "His track record is amazing. He has coached world champions from 1996 to 1999 [Jackie Gallagher, Emma Carney, Joanne King and Harrop]. Four different girls, four different years - amazing. It was an incident that happened 12 years ago. The man I know is a good person and a fantastic coach, but he has not attended the races for many years."

Sutton, back at their training camp in Switzerland, said: "I discovered Andrew when he was an Australian athlete who could not get any support from Triathlon Australia. They did not think he was worth any help. That is why he shifted to Britain, and now I think he can beat Simon."

Johns, 26, was born in Peterborough but was resident in Australia from the age of seven. His Australian father and English mother live in Brisbane, some 50 miles from Surfers Paradise, where Johns went to school.

"I was beating my head up against a brick wall," Johns said of his decision to leave Australia and return to his British roots. "I could not get starts in the races that counted and could not race the top guys. You are never going to improve if you do not do that, so it was a very frustrating time for me. It was a hard decision but, having had made it, I have not looked back.

"You have got to appreciate the depth Australia had at that time. It has diminished hugely in the last few years but, at that time, they had Greg Welch, Brad Beven and Miles Stewart. If you asked anyone, that was their Olympic team. I have no ill-feeling or animosity towards the Australian federation because they had too many guys to look after."

While Johns is staying in the Great Britain team hotel here, Lessing has chosen to separate himself from the main group, taking a nearby apartment. Like Coe and Ovett in the early Eighties, they have little to do with each other. Of the relationship between them, Johns said: "We get on fine, we always have. After the race, I will be the first to shake Simon's hand if he wins. But, while on the course, I will be doing my damndest to make sure it is me who crosses the line first. You race hard, then forget about it."

Born in Cape Town and resident in South Africa until he was 18, Lessing has an English mother, has competed for Britain since 1989 and never for any other country. For ten years he lived and trained in France, but he is now resident in Bradford-on-Avon, where he has just bought a house. He denied any rivalry with Johns.

"It is not a question of rivalry," he said. "Our paths never cross. It is not as if we are living in the same town, it is not as if we are living in the same country, and it is not as if we are doing the same races."

Johns is based in Swiss mountains some 1,400 metres up, at Leysan. "I could not have had a better preparation," Johns said. And, for that, he thanks his controversial coach.

David Powell
The Times