TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Matt Reed stopped running about 15 yards before the finish line at Saturday’s USA Triathlon Olympic trials.

The New Zealand native and new U.S. citizen turned and walked backward. He waved. He looked to the sky and threw his hands up. His fists pumped several times.

Reed then turned back around and walked to the finish line tape. He grabbed the tape with both fists, clinched it tightly and raised it above his 6-foot-5 frame. A look, somewhere between annoyance and anger, framed Reed’s face as he took the tape and threw it to the ground.

Reed finished the triathlon in 1 hour, 52 minutes and 15 seconds and became the second member of the men’s Olympic triathlon team.

Just like that. Redemption.

“Nobody picked me for the win today,” Reed said. “That was kind of upsetting to me. It was all about Hunter (Kemper) and Andy (Potts).”

Julie Ertel of Irvine, Calif., used an incredible transition from bike to run and a powerful run to earn a spot on the women’s team. Ertel’s 2:02:21 was 29 seconds ahead of Colorado Springs’ Sarah Haskins Kortuem.

Athletes often play the lack-of-respect card when it hardly needs to be played. However, this time the athlete was right. This race was about Kemper and Potts, who both live in Colorado Springs. They are all the folks talked about.

Could Kemper make his third Olympic team? Could Potts take the spotlight for good?

Reed was an afterthought.

“That worked in my favor today because they thought about each other and didn’t think about me,” Reed said. “When I attacked on the bike, none of them wanted to chase me down. They let me have too much time.”

Now Reed, who finished last year as the top-ranked USAT male, can sit back and watch pressure-free as Kemper and Potts chase each other for the last spot on the team.

Kemper and Potts have another shot to make the Olympic team. They’ll race June 22 in Des Moines, Iowa. Both athletes have second- and third-place finishes in the selection process. The top finisher between them in Des Moines will have the best shot at making the team.

Colorado Springs’ Brian Fleischmann and Doug Friman from Tucson, Ariz., each has an outside shot. But to do that, either would have to be the top American finisher and Kemper and Potts would have to be the third-place American or worse.

“Somebody’s going to be left off the team,” Kemper said. “Hopefully, it’s not me. I’ve got to go back home and regroup.”

Kortuem, though sitting well with two second-place finishes, has to perform well at the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines to make it to Beijing. Boulder’s Sarah Groff finished third Saturday and has an outside shot at making it.

“The only way that Sarah Haskins doesn’t make the team at this point is if Sarah Groff is the very first American finisher in Des Moines,” USAT sport performance director Scott Schnitzspahn said.

Finishing first in Des Moines will be difficult for Groff since it’s a World Cup event that has $700,000 in prize money and will feature the world’s best women and men.

Boulder’s Laura Bennett won the event last year. She was the first female qualifier for the 2008 Olympics, and she’ll be back in the Hy-Vee field in June. Because the prize money is so much – $200,000 to each winner – Ertel, Sara McLarty, Margaret Shapiro, Joanna Zeiger, Jasmine Oeinck as well as Kortuem should be there. They all finished ahead of Groff last year.

Folks who enjoy competition couldn’t want anymore than an Olympic dream that boils down to a final race.

Julie Ertel won the elite women’s event on Saturday and with it a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS