MANILA, Philippines - Foreign triathletes dominated both the junior elite categories for men and women on the first day of the 24th NTT-ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon but local triathletes shared podium honors in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) super sprint competition that saw the trio of Wacky Banigued, Joshua Ramos and Russel Villaraza sweep the boys’ side while Karen Manayon cracked the top 3 in the distaff side.
Hong Kong’s entry Shing Hi Yu, 17, ran a near perfect race, taking the lead in the swim leg and maintaining it all the way to the final run leg, for a solo finish in 1:00.13,
“The bike course was a bit tricky and it was a little hot but I managed to maintain my early lead, “ said Yu who was followed by Kazakh bet Daryn Konysbayev in 1:01.09.
Best placed Filipino was national team member Andrew Remolino who finished fourth in 1:02.31 in the international triathlon event organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropilitan Authority (SBMA) and sanctioned by the Asian Triathlon Confederation (ATC) and the International Triathlon Union (ITU).
In the distaff side of the junior elite, Asian road cycling champion Ting Chang from Chinese Taipei easily won in 1:08.19, followed by HK’s Cheuk Yi Chelsea Hung, 1:11.54, and Singaporean Louisa Marie Midleditch in 1:13.25
“ It was a good race but I was surprised that I won , I took the lead in the early part of the bike leg then went all the way to the finish, “ said the 18-year-old Chang who was scheduled to join a 130K cycling challenge race in Sual, Pangasinan the following day.
The event was co-presented by the SBMA Tourism Department, and the Philippine Sports Commission and sponsored by Standard Insurance, Gatorade, Asian Center for Insulation, Finis, Century Tuna, The Philippine STAR, The Lighthouse Marina Resort, ACEA Subic Bay, Subictel, Foton, PTT, Moonbay Marina The Villas, Subic Bay Traveler’s Hotel (official hotel), Subic Holiday Villas and the Subic International Hotel.