Catiil stuns top Kiwi in Singapore triathlon

SINGAPORE – Neil Catiil sprang a surprise at the Singapore OSIM International Triathlon, beating New Zealand’s Craig Johns for the gold medal in the men’s elite division at the East Coast Park last Sunday.

Catiil, 23, made up for a slow clocking in the 1.5 m swim leg at 26:53 with big performance in the 40-k bike leg and 10-k run leg to annex his first win in the international men’s elite race.   

The Cagayan de Oro bet turned a highly technical bike course that featured humps and sharp turns into a show of his own by submitting a fast time of 1:03.39. He sustained his pace in final 10-k run with another 38:11 to submit an accumulated best time in the category at two hours, 8 minutes and 43 seconds.

Johns, a noted world class triathlete, came out of the swim leg first with more than three minutes advantage off Catiil. But he faltered in the next stages of the competition and settled for second at 2:13:25, over four minutes behind the Filipino champion.

Chong Chi Seak of Macau took the bronze medal with a 2:23:17 clocking.

Catiil recorded an 18th overall finish in his first elite race in the Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia. But he redeemed himself with fifth place finish in the last Subic Bay International Triathlon Championships last May. He spiced his impressive performance by accounting for the best time split in the bike leg among the participants for a bonus prize of $1000.