MANILA, Philippines - Nikko Huelgas and Kim Mangrobang won silver medals while Gabrielle Santiago took the bronze as the national team turned in a solid performance in the OSIM Singapore Triathlon at the East Coast Park in Singapore over the weekend.
“We are on track with our program of activities for our national team focusing on the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics qualifying and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics for the 13-15 years old triathletes,” said Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) president Tom Carrasco Jr.
Now on its 10th edition, the event is also part of the ITU Asian Cup with the course made tougher by the humid weather and choppy water condition.
The 19-year old Huelgas, one of five triathletes sent by the TRAP and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, went off course in the swim leg due to the strong current and missed his chance at the gold medal in the U-23 class.
The country’s first triathlete to break the sub-two hour time with 1:59:44 in the 2010 Asian Beach Games, Huelgas came out of the water some three minutes behind the pacesetters, including Hong Kong’s Yang Mao-Yung.
“That happens. But I did my best and this is a good sign for me in my transition to the U-23,” said Huelgas who negotiated the 1.5Km swim, 40Km bike and 10Km run event in two hours, 7 minutes, 30 seconds and was just 22 ticks behind gold medal winner Yang with 2:07:08 clocking.
Taiwanese Kuo Hsin Shen took the bronze with a 2:11:11 clocking.
Mangrobang, on the other hand, negotiated the Olympic distance in 2:35:01 to claim the country’s second silver medal in female U-23 division.
Santiago, 15, bagged the bronze in the Kids Triathlon that drew 200 triathletes and raced at the 200m swim,10km bike and 2km run distance.
Santiago clocked 30:01 and finished behind a pair of Hong Kong bets to claim his second medal abroad after bagging the gold in last year’s Singapore Duathlon Championships.
Louie Lalanto, 14, placed fourth in the kids triathlon while Ronnel Uy finished 15th in the juniors division to cap the Philippine team’s campaign.