A year after he had surrendered any plans for a repeat of his 2004 Olympic appearance, Australian Greg Bennett was selected by Triathlon Australia for their third and final Olympic triathlon men’s slot Wednesday.

Australian Brad Kahlefeldt, whose primary focus is the draft legal ITU World Cup series, won one of the first two Aussie men’s slots with a third place finish at last year’s World Championship in Hamburg and an 8th place-second Australian finish at the Beijing World Cup and Olympic preview test. Atkinson, who fought injuries most of last year, won his Olympic slot with a second place finish against a terrifically competitive field at the Beijing World Cup in September.

Bennett finished top Australian man and a close fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympics and earned $500,000-plus last year by sweeping the five races in the non-drafting Life Time Fitness series in the United States. But Bennett had backed off considerably from the highly competitive grind of the ITU World Cup series – until this season.

Unlike the U.S. Olympic selection process which is cut and dried based solely on performance in three Olympic Trials events, Triathlon Australia selectors have great latitude. Triathlon Australia selectors, including national coach Bill Davoren, apparently weighed Bennett’s 5th place finish against a top field at the season opening Mooloolaba World Cup more highly than 3-time ITU World Champion Peter Robertson’s 4th place finish against a lesser field at the Ishigaki World Cup last weekend. Apparently, they also took into consideration Bennett’s greater consistency in contrast to Robertson’s oscillation between all-or-nothing performances.

Bennett will thus accompany his wife Laura Bennett, the first U.S. women’s Olympic triathlon qualifier, to a family outing in Beijing.

Triathlon Australia also picked the second and third Australian women’s Olympic triathlon slots Wednesday. Emma Moffat, the 2007 ITU World Cup series points runner-up, and Erin Densham, the 2006 Under 23 ITU World Champion, will be joining already selected Emma Snowsill in Beijing. Moffat nailed her spot with her recent win at the New Plymouth World Cup; Densham closed the deal with her second place finish last weekend behind Snowsill at the Ishigaki World Cup. Felicity Abram, bronze medalist at the 2006 ITU World Championship, and Annabel Luxford, who was the 2005 ITU World Cup series points champion but has been fighting injuries since her second place finish at the 2007 Hy-Vee World Cup last summer, were chosen as the first and second Australian women’s 2008 Olympic alternates.