Champs spice up IRONMAN 70.3 Davao

MANILA, Philippines — Portuguese Filipe Azevedo and fellow IRONMAN 70.3 champion Tuan Chun Chang of Taiwan beef up the men’s pro cast in the Alveo IRONMAN 70.3 Davao, both seeking to bring their winning act to the premier endurance race unfolding March 26 at Azuela Cove.

The event, which will mark the IM 70.3 Philippines’ return to the king city of the south after a three-year hiatus due to pandemic, has drawn 1,019 athletes from 48 nations one full month before it is fired off, underscoring the sport’s popularity both in the local triathlon scene and abroad.

Hong Kong has accounted for the biggest number of foreign entries thus far with 44 while England and Singapore are fielding in 28 and 26 athletes, respectively, followed by the US (23), Japan (22), India (14) and France (13).

Australia, whose world-class bets have dominated the local IM 70.3 and full IM races for years, is putting up an 18-athlete contingent, led by top women’s pro contender Dimity-Lee Duke, a multi-5150 race winner who placed third in the first IM 70.3 Davao in 2018 and wound up fourth the following year.