Crucial Olympic Games starts mean winning the Oceania triathlon championships this Saturday will be a priority for the Australian squad.

While the event will not decide which triathletes go to the London Games, it will go a long way to determining the size of the Australian team.

Australia, a traditional triathlon power, suffered the embarrassment of only qualifying two out of a possible three-man team for the Beijing Olympics.

They can send a maximum of three men and three women to London.

If an Australian wins the men’s race at Devonport in Tasmania, it confirms a London berth and goes a long way to ensuring a full-strength team.

The same applies for the women’s race.

“As far as Olympic positions alone are concerned, Devonport is a ‘must win’ for Australia,” said Triathlon Australia national performance director Michael Flynn.

Their major rivals will be New Zealand, who have designated the race as their national titles.

“The Kiwis got under our guard in 2008 and I don’t want to let that happen again in 2012, so expect the finishes to go right down to the wire,” Flynn said.

“Devonport is an ideal and proven venue and it will also allow us to assess athlete performances while competing under similar conditions and course design that we are expecting in London.

“Australia is fully aware of the significance of this race in terms of automatically locking in one of a possible three spots in London and you can smell the sense of urgency amongst our coaches and athletes.

“Back in 2008, the Kiwis were better organised than us and took the automatic Oceania spots and we will be going all out to ensure that does not happen again.”

Beijing Olympian Courtney Atkinson, Chris McCormack and fellow London Games hopeful Brendan Sexton will lead the men’s team for the 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run event.

Drew Box, who won the national sprint-distance title last month, will also race at Devonport.

Potential London selections Emma Jackson and Erin Densham will lead the women’s team.