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Butterfield closes in on Olympic qualification

Flying the flag: Tyler Butterfield hopes to qualify for the London Games.

Tyler Butterfield has backed himself to hold onto the final triathlon spot for the Olympic Games as the clock winds down to the qualification deadline.Butterfield boosted his chances of making the London Games when he finished seventh at the Ishigaki ITU Triathlon World Cup race at the weekend, to move him into a qualification position.With five weeks remaining until the clock strikes 12 on all those who hope to make this summer’s Games, the triathlete is confident of cementing his Olympic berth.The seventh place finish earned Butterfield 313 points towards his Olympic total and moved him up 12 places to 84th spot.“The racing is going well,” said Butterfield, who competed at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. “I currently have the last male spot for the triathlon in the London Olympics, however, there are five more weekends to race until the cut off date in which to gain points, meaning that can change over the next five weeks.“I should be racing three more weekends, which at this point if I race similar to the rest of this year I look good to keep that spot.“However, if I don’t keep performing in the next few races; I can get knocked down the rankings and miss out on London. Things are going well and looking good but I have to keep racing well.”Earlier this month saw the 28-year-achieve a 20th finish at the Mooloolaba International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup triathlon in AustraliaUp next for Butterfield is the ITU Triathlon World Cup Huatulco, Mexico, on May 6.Then, Butterfield will travel to San Diego for a ITU World Championship Series race on May 12, before heading to the ITU World Championship Series in Madrid, Spain, on May 27.San Diego follows the trip to Mexico where Butterfield will race on May 12 and then takes a week off before his final race before the Olympics in Madrid, Spain on May 27.He added: “It is a busy month, but the rewards can be great. I would love to represent Bermuda at another Olympic Games and also by leaving it late it forces me to improve and race well for me to qualify.“Only time will tell, but five weeks is not long, it is just time to keep up training and race well.”Butterfield (1,113) leads Fabio Carvalho of Brazil (1098) by 15 points in the Olympic points table, with Reto Hug (1,087) also within touching distance of the final qualification spot.