John Leerams Chicano seizes Tri-Factor International Triathlon title

MANILA, Philippines — John Leerams Chicano of Go For Gold Philippines never goes tired of conducting triathlon clinics in rural areas in search of future triathlon talents.

The national team mainstay has once again inspired those young triathletes under his tutelage after recently winning the prestigious Tri-Factor International Triathlon in Quzhou, China.

Chicano, a silver medalist in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, ruled the men’s standard distance in two hours, nine minutes, 17 seconds in the event which drew over 400 participants.

Several top-tier international triathletes joined the 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run event, including New Zealand world champion Cameron Brown, Japanese Olympian Hiroyuki Nishiuchi and Fang Zhou, China’s No. 1 triathlete.

“To win in an international race with some of the best triathletes in the world is something that our country should really be proud of,’’ said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go.

“Chicano has become an inspiration to all our young triathletes who are motivated to follow in his footsteps as we aim to produce the first Filipino Olympian in the sport,’’ added Go.

With the support of Go For Gold, Chicano has  embarked on  a grassroots outreach program for the sport along with national team head coach Melvin Fausto.

Their efforts have produced a youth development squad based in Cebu that regularly grabs the limelight whenever they hit the road in local races nationwide.

Brown, who won the Ironman 12 times in his career, topped the Tri-Factor Endro category in 3:36:40 while Li Jianqiang of China clocked 1:16:16 to secure the crown in the sprint distance.

Chen Cheng was the top female on the TF Endro distance (4:41:25). Heather De Freitas won the women’s standard distance (2:35:14) while Li Fang topped the women’s sprint distance (1:34:17).