Philippine triathlon, duathlon bets favored in Hanoi

MANILA, Philippines — If schedule permits, the Philippines has a strong chance of sweeping all four gold medals in triahtlon and duathlon in the 31st Southeast Asian Games slated May 12-23 in Hanoi, Vietnam next year.

Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) president Tom Carrasco yesterday said the Filipino triathletes competing in both events could get the job done assuming there’s enough time separating the staging of both triathlon and duathlon.

“Our initial goal is two golds in triathlon and one gold in duathlon,” Carrasco told The STAR. “But if we field our best triathletes in the duathlon events, possible two golds in duathlon also.”

Defending SEA Games triathlon champions John Leerams “Rambo” Chicano and Kim Mangrobang topped the national duathlon trials in Clark two weeks ago to earn the right to represent the country in both disciplines in Hanoi.

Triathletes took to duathlon after Monica Reyes, a duathlon gold medalist in the 2019 SEA Games in Subic, retired and Joey delos Reyes, a SEA Games silver medal winner, was sidelined by injury.