Caluag brods finish 1-2 in BMX cross country

NAY PYI TAW – Olympian Danny Caluag burst out of the starting gate and sped through the 330m circuit, towing along his younger brother Cristopher John to a 1-2 finish by the Philippines in the BMX cross country event of the cycling competitions at Mount Pleasant, 30 minutes from the city proper.’

Caluag, who first competed for the Philippines in the London Olympics last year, was never challenged the moment he rode down the eight-meter ramp, setting the pace on the closed circuit featuring four fast corners and four straights.

Caluag, 26, finished the race in 32 minutes, .684 second, immediately followed by his brother CJ (33.019), a civil engineer working with a railroad company, who celebrated his 25th birthday Dec. 16.

“I felt comfortable (unlike in London) going into this race,” said the older Caluag, who is going back to the US to complete his nursing studies at the University of Kentucky.

Before he could do, he wished to have his jersey auctioned for the benefit of the victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

“We heard about the tragedy and I want to help in some small way by auctioning this winning jersey,” said Caluag, showing the words “Let’s Pray for the Philippines” specially printed at the back of the jersey.

“We hope to be back to compete in the Asian Games next year (in Incheon, South Korea),” said the new champ, who will be training under American coach Greg Romero.

The gold is the second for the cycling team counting the win of Mark Galedo in the individual time trial, the silver of CJ Caluag, and the bronze medals of Ronald Oranza in the ITT and the road race team.