Top Bermuda triathlete Tyler Butterfield continued on his road to qualification for this summer's Olympic Games in Athens when he travelled to La Paz, Bolivia, last weekend to compete in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) American Continental Triathlon in front of more than 100,000 spectators.

After taking a break from serious training last summer in Bermuda, Butterfield surprised even his most ardent supporters when, after a mere six weeks of full training he placed eighth in the World Championships in New Zealand in the highly competitive Under-23 category.

Having then returned to his base on the Gulf Coast, in Australia, the talented youngster rejoined many of the worlds top triathletes and began a rigorous training and racing schedule that he hopes will see him fulfil his lifelong dream of representing Bermuda at the Olympics.

La Paz was one of the first major events on his busy schedule, but one that unfortunately did not provide the result he had hoped for. After what he would describe as an "average swim" over the 1.5k swim course, Butterfield started the 40k bike course in a small group of about five riders adrift of the lead pack.

At the elite level of the sport, coming out of the water behind the lead swimmers is a clear disadvantage, but is a role that Butterfield has become accustomed to and learned to deal with.

Respected as one of the strongest cyclists and runners amongst his peers, Butterfield worked tirelessly, much of the time unassisted, until at the 20 kilometre mark he reeled in a group of 25 riders, leaving only a lead group of four, 20 seconds ahead.

Frustrated at only a few riders prepared to work to close the gap on the leaders, Butterfield set off alone to reach them before the start of the ten kilometre run, only to be joined by two other riders, who clearly did not share his work ethic.

It was then that disaster struck. Turning to appeal to the other riders to come through and share the workload at the front, his bike became entangled with one of the others sending him crashing to the ground.

Uninjured apart from some road rash, but annoyed as much with himself and anyone else, his attempts to continue were dashed when he realised that the spokes in his front wheel were badly damaged and just as he appeared to be assured of one of his best performances to date, his race was prematurely ended.

Despite the obvious disappointment, Butterfield is clearly back to top form in what is, without doubt, the busiest and most competitive time in the world of triathlon as the sport's top athletes vie for the coveted Olympic spots.

Regarded by former world champion, Australian Chris McCormack as potentially one of the sports stars of the future, Butterfield is beginning to show the kind of form that could well see him on the start line in Athens.