Sunday, August 5, 2007
Australian captures Asian O2 Triathlon
By Kristel Satumbaga
SUBIC - Without defending champion Petr Vabrousek of the Czech Republic to contend with, Australian Bevan Leach ruled the O2 Asian Long Distance Triathlon yesterday at the Subic Bay Freeport here.
Despite his difficulty in the 20K run event where he was slowed down by the hot weather condition, Leach still topped the event - thanks to his impressive showing in the two other events, especially in the 80K bike category.
The 32-year old Leach clocked four hours, 21 minutes and 57 seconds to cop his first international crown on Philippine soil. The other event - actually the kick off - is the 3K swimming.
"It was a very honest course, but this is probably one of the toughest races I've ever completed," said Leach. "The weather is really tough and I lost track on the run but thankfully I managed to keep my lead all the way."
Leach took an 11-minute lead over his closest pursuer after the bike event but that almost evaporated into thin air due to severe heat and the spirited challenge of of Hong Kong's Jason Hsieh Chung Shing.
The 23-year old Shing tried very hard to come closer to Leach but he also lost steam. He posted a time of 4:56:57.
"I was thinking that he (Shing) might catch up on me and we might have a sprint in the last two kilometers but I just tried to push myself a little bit to keep my pace. The last lap run, I had to run scared," Leach admitted.
The women's division was won as expected by veteran Sandra Araullo.
The 2005 SEA Games silver medallist proved too much for her rivals as she registered a time of 5:10:04.
The win was a big boost for Araullo's title bid for this year's 24th SEA Games slated in Thailand in December.
Vabrousek begged off from defending his title as he is still trying to recover his strength after competing in the ITU Long Distance World Championship in France last July 15.
National duathlon head coach Mark Candelaria wound up third to emerge as the best Filipino finisher in the event.
Both Leach and Araullo pocketed PhP10,000 each. Shing and Candelaria got PhP6,000 and PhP3,000, respectively.
Source: Manila Bulletin