Tyler Butterfield warmed up for this month's World Triathlon Championships with a 12th place finish in the Tokyo Bay ITU International Triathlon in Tokyo, Japan.

The men's event was packed to capacity with 80 athletes on the start line in readiness for the 1.5 kilometre swim, 40K bike and 10K run.

Japanese team-mates Hideo Fukui and Tsukasa Hirano along with Australia's Courtney Atkinson, led through the swim and quickly formed the lead pack, controlling the race throughout the bike.

Atkinson won the race in 1:51:39 by gaining the lead on the run. Australia's Brad Kahlfeldt, a close friend of Butterfield's, chased from the second pack and finished runner-up.

Butterfield came home in 1:53:58 having completed the swim in 59th place in 20:49, the bike in the fourth fastest time of the day in 59:21 and the run in third fastest time of the day in 33:48.

The Tokyo Bay event was the final qualifying event for the 2002 ITU World Championships in Cancun, Mexico on November 9.