In the end, it was The Emma Carney Show.

Again. Still.

The 25-year-old Australian continued her dominance of the women's triathlon circuit yesterday, capturing her fifth straight race in the Bermuda World Cup Triathlon, the fourth stop in the $1 million ITU series.

And she did it the way you'd expect the top-ranked women's professional to, attacking the 51.5-kilometre course from the start and finally slaying it with an overpowering kick over the final 10K.

It was the same most of last season and all of this one. And if nothing else, she's getting stronger: Carney won with a time of one hour, 49 minutes and 34 seconds, nearly three full minutes ahead of second-place American Gail Laurence.

"She's amazing,'' marvelled Laurence, who finished third here last season and put together her best performance of the season to beat out Germany's Sabine Graf-Westhoff for second.

Carney now has nearly three times as many points as second placed Carol Montgomery in the 11-race ITU series heading into the world championships in Cleveland next month.

Montgomery, who won the Bermuda event last year (Carney didn't compete) was forced to pull out early in the cycling discipline yesterday because of illness.

And without the 30-year-old Canadian, Carney's path to the $10,000 first prize became that much easier, especially in the run.

A former Australian high school middle-distance and cross-country champion, Carney turned in a time of 33.07 over the final 10K.

"If it comes down to any sort of run at the end, I'm fairly confident I can win it,'' Carney said matter-of-factly.

"Emma was great. She could've stayed in the back of the pack throughout the cycle and still won (because of her strong run),'' said Laurence.

But she didn't.

Tenth out of the water (but only 11 seconds behind the leader, Rina Hill), Carney worked her way to the front and had a split of 59.16 to lead Laurence by three seconds heading into the transition area.

"I'm not the type of person who can sit back and let a race happen and watch everyone else do all the work,'' said Carney. "As well, you never know what can happen. I may step off the bike and pull something.'' During the victory lap, Carney had a little fun, spraying champagne on the crowd lining the Front Street finish area.

She's hoping to do the same next month at the world championships in Cleveland. Last year, she was the hot favourite, fell ill and finished seventh. She hasn't forgotten. "I feel robbed,'' Carney said.

If there was anyone more happy than Carney, it was Laurence.

"I'm ecstatic,'' she said.

Laurence's runs are more than two minutes faster than a year ago year and yesterday it was just enough to hold off a fast-closing Jackie Gallagher, who was fourth. Last year in Bermuda, she had to settle for third when she suffered from dry heaves during the run trying to keep up with Montgomery.

This year, "I stayed within myself.

"Even when they caught me on the run, I just tried to stay with them and figured I might be able to finish in the top five ... I had no idea I'd be second.'' Another happy finisher was Bermuda's Shona Palmer, getting another crack at the professionals.

She was last but certainly not upset about that or her time of 2:05.39.

"It's a great experience,'' she said.

Palmer, a former Commonwealth Games swimmer for Scotland, was in the thick of things out of the water but the transition to the bike cost her valuable seconds. "The first few laps I was on my own,'' she noted.

Photos by David Skinner and Tony Cordeiro CELEBRATION -- Some of the world's finest athletes took to the streets of Hamilton yesterday. First Emma Carney (above) blew away the women's field in the ITU World Cup Triathlon and then the men took over, highlighted by a 40K cycle (below).