JAPAN won six of nine gold medals at stake in the 2026 NTT Asia Triathlon Para Championships in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone yesterday.
The event was converted to duathlon (2.5km run-20km bike-5km run) after prolonged heavy rains made the water conditions in Subic Bay unsafe for athletes.
Keiichi Sato clocked 1:01:08 to prevail over compatriot Takumi Ando (1:03:56) and Uzbekistan’s Bakhtiyor Murtazayev (1:05:01) in the men’s PTS5 (mild impairment) category race that started and ended at Waterfront Road.
“My weak point is swimming. I like running and biking so this is advantage for me,” said the 47-year-old Sato, who hails from Nagoya which will host the 20th Asian Games.
“I plan to join more tournaments to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, that is my goal,” added Sato, who placed 11th at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Meanwhile, Filipino Alex Silverio delivered a bronze medal in the men’s PTS4 (moderate impairments). He clocked 1:08:36 behind Japan’s Hideki Uda (1:01:21) and Keiya Kaneko (1:06:41).
The other Japanese gold medalists in the tournament organized by Triathlon Philippines in cooperation with Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) were Yukako Hata (women’s PTS2), Masaki Fujita (men’s PTS3), Hideki Uda (men’s PTS4), Ryota Kashiki (men’s PT Visually Impaired) and Shiori Funamizu (women’s PT Wheelchair).
Uzbekistan’s Rustamjan Satiboldiyev (men’s PTS2) and Shokhsanam Sobirjonova (women’s PTS5) and Kyrgysztan’s Guinaz Zhuzbaeva (women’s PT Visually Impaired) also topped their respective categories in the competition sponsored by NTT, Philippine Sports Commission, Pinay in Action, Gatorade, Terrace Hotel, Western Guaranty Corp., Raceya, ENGINE 8 and CM Timing of Jay Cheng.
For more triathlon and multisport updates, visit https://www.facebook.com/TriPhil.
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Note: This is an official press release issued by Triathlon Philippines.
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