Monday, May 8, 2006
Foreign bets rule triathlon
by : Rey Joble
SUBIC -- Olympian Daniel Lee Chi Wo of Hong Kong and Satomi Okouchi of Japan repulsed the challenge of the foreign and local competitors to rule the Legenda-Subic Bay International Triathlon Championship yesterday at the Subic Bay Freeport Baywalk Area.
Lee, a 29-year-old professional triathlete who saw action in the 2004 Athens Olympics, broke away from his closest pursuer – Kodo Hiramatsu of Japan – in the 10K run to finish the race in two hours, three minutes and 14 seconds to capture his third title in this event sponsored by Legenda Hotel, Speedo Swimming Apparel, PowerBar, David's Day Spa, David's Salon, Asian Center For Insulation, SBMA, PSC, POC and Herbalife.
Lee was back-to-back titlist in 2000-2001, but he came back furiously this year to cement his status as one of the best triathletes in Asia.
“I expect to win. I ran pretty well today and I will be back here next year,” said Lee. “We were head to head in the swim and bike, but I managed to pull away in the run.”
Hiramatsu, who was only a second late in the 40K bike against the Hong Kong bet, admitted that his rival was a better runner than him.
He tried his darndest best in the sprint, but the 25-year-old, 2002 winner couldn't catch up with the more aggressive Lee in this event organized by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines in cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Asian Triathlon Confederation.
“Like him (Lee), I also expect to win. But he was a better runner. We were side by side in the swim and bike, but he was fast in running,” said Hiramatsu, who will next compete in the Asian Championship in South Africa next month.
Also pulling off similar victory was Okouchi, who breezed past Filipina LC Langit, in the sprint race.
Langit was engaging the 16th ranked Japanese Okuochi in a neck-to-neck race in the swim and bike.
“Hindi niya masyado kabisado yung loop, that's why I was able to stay with her,” said Langit, a member of La Salle swimming team in the UAAP. Pero malakas siya sa takbo.”
Joash Serrano and Kim Mangrobang ruled the Junior Male and Female categories, respectively while Bonnie Sy stamped his class in the adult class.
Source: People's Tonight