This past weekend at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Pampanga, Samuel Mileham of Australia and Erika Burgos of the Philippines won the elite titles of the 2023 Asia Triathlon Duathlon Championship (also referred to as Asian Duathlon Championship), according to a sports news report published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the PNA sports news report. Some parts in boldface…
Australian Samuel Mileham topped the men’s elite category of the 2023 Asia Triathlon Duathlon Championships at New Clark City Sports Complex here Sunday.
The 25-year-old native of Perth finished the 10K (run)-40K (bike)-5K (run) race in 1 hour, 53 minutes and 7 seconds.
“I’m lucky to be given the opportunity to join this competition and I’m happy I won,” said the 6-foot-1 Mileham, who finished second behind Uzbekistan’s Ayan Beisenbayev during the 2022 edition of the tournament in Bahrain.
Bahrain’s Moussa Karich settled for the silver medal with a time of 1:54:49, improving on his fourth-place finish last year.
“This is my first tournament after my injury so I’m satisfied with my performance,” Karich said, referring to (his) previous back problem.
Mileham and Karich are setting their sights on the 2024 World Triathlon Multisport Championship scheduled Aug. 15 to 25 in Townsville, a coastal city in northeastern Queensland, Australia.
“Yes, it would be nice to win again,” Mileham, a duathlete for 13 years now, said.
Mileham’s teammate, Matt Smith, grabbed the bronze medal in 1:55:19.
Cambodian Mickael Chaumond (1:55:37) and Japanese Fumiya Tanaka (1:55:47), ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.
Philippine team members Raymund Torio and John Chicano also made it to the top 10 of the tournament organized by the Triathlon Philippines (TriPhil) headed by Ramon Marchan.
Torio (1:56:05) placed sixth, while the two-time Southeast Asian Games champion Chicano (1:56:46) was 10th among 22 entries.
“I’m glad because God gave me the chance to be the No. 1 Filipino finisher in this race,” said the 35-year-old Torio, who was born and raised in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Seyed Mohammad Hosseini (Iran) clocked 1:56:30 for seventh place, Saud Alzaabi (United Arab Emirates) was eighth in 1:56:36, and Edward Langdon (Australia) ninth in 1:56:37.
Meanwhile, the Philippines had a 1-2 finish in the women’s elite category.
Erika Burgos bagged the gold medal in 2:17:48 while Merry Joy Trupa took the silver in 2:18:55.
Indonesians Maharani Azhri Wahyuningtyas (2:21:30), Zahra Bulan (2:23:28), and Eva Desiana (2:24:25) placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
The 2023 Asia Triathlon Duathlon Championship was organized by Triathlon Philippines (formerly Triathlon Association of the Philippines) in cooperation with BCDA and NCC. Sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, Asian Center for Insulation, Gatorade – our official hydration partner, Standard Insurance, Fitbar and Medical City Clark.
Today, May 14, 2022, is another memorable day of great sports achievement for Philippine triathlon and the nation as a whole as triathletes Fer Casares and Marion Kim Mangrobang won the gold medals of the men’s and women’s triathlon events of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (AKA the 31st SEA Games, SEA Games 31 and Hanoi 2021) in Tuan Chau in Vietnam and the official results have been published online. Adding more to the nation’s SEA Games rankings were the silver and bronze medals won by Andrew Kim Remolino and Raven Faith Alcoseba in their respective triathlon events.
Fer Casares the gold medalist in the men’s triathlon event of the 31st SEA Games. (photo source – Philippine Sports Commission)
Marion Kim Mangrobang successfully won the gold medal for the Philippines in the women’s triathlon of the 31st SEA Games. Take note that she won the women’s triathlon gold medals in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the SEA Games. (photo source – Philippine Sports Commission.)
Fer Casares won the gold in the 1.5 Km swim – 40 Km bike – 10 Km run SEA Games men’s triathlon with a time of 1 hour, 56 minutes and 57 seconds. Silver medalist Andrew Kim Remolino followed with 1:59:16. The bronze medal went to Indonesia’s triathlete Ronald Bintang Setiawan who timed 2:01:35. This resulted gold and silver medal victories for the Philippines in the SEA Games triathlon event for men and this also marked the 2nd consecutive men’s triathlon silver medal for the Cebu-based Remolino. For Remolino’s previous SEA Games men’s triathlon silver medal win, click here.
Among the women, Marion Kim Mangrobang finished first with a time of 2:13:31. More than three minutes later, Indonesia’s Inge Prasetyo crossed the finish line in 2:16:38 to earn the silver medal. Mangrobang’s teammate Raven Faith Alcoseba won for the country the bronze medal after timing 2:18:30. The Cebu-based Alcoseba, who was the top finisher among local women in the recent Subic Bay International Triathlon (SUBIT), was ahead of the 4th placer from Indonesia by 56 seconds. For the Philippines, this resulted gold and bronze victories in the SEA Games triathlon for women.
Very notably, today’s SEA Game gold medal victory of Mangrobang is her 3rd consecutive gold following her achievements in the 2017 and 2019 SEA Games triathlon events for women. That being said, Mangrobang is still the reigning triathlon queen of Southeast Asia! For the newcomers reading this who want to know more about Mangrobang, read my feature article of her.
Andrew Kim Remolino won another silver medal in the SEA Games men’s triathlon. He won a silver also in the 2019 SEA Games. (photo source – Philippine Sports Commission)
Raven Faith Alcoseba won for the Philippines the bronze of the SEA Games women’s triathlon. (photo source – Philippine Sports Commission)
With the gold medal victories of Casares and Mangrobang today, the Philippines is once again the best in triathlon in Southeast Asia. For today, Philippine triathletes added 2 gold medals, 1 silvermedal and 1 bronze medal to help the nation in the overall medal rankings.
Be aware that the next SEA Games will be hosted by Cambodia next year (promoted as Cambodia 2023) and those games already include triathlon, duathlon and aquathlon.
Tomorrow, the multisport action will continue in the ongoing SEA Games as the men’s duathlon and women’s duathlon events are set to happen. Updates about those races will be posted here.
In closing this post, posted below are holy scriptures for your faith in the Lord. Praise and thank the Lord for the victories the Philippines achieved today at the SEA Games.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)
Surrender your anxiety. Be still and realize that I am God. I am God above all the nations, and I am exalted throughout the whole earth.
By the time you are reading this, you should be aware that what was once impossible for the Philippines became a tremendous breakthrough – national weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz (her official Twitter and Instagram) defeated her Chinese competitor in the Tokyo Olympics women’s 55 Kg. weightlifting competition and won for the Philippines its first-ever Olympic gold medal the other night. The mainstream media of the Philippines went full blast with their coverage of the pioneering achievement.
The Manila Bulletin front page.
The hard copy of the Manila times.
That being said, we Filipinos should praise and thank our Heavenly Father for anointing Diaz to win the often-elusive Olympic gold medal for the Filipino people. Her victory is a clear reminder that with God, nothing is impossible. The Olympic gold victory is pioneering for Diaz and also marks the beginning of a new age in the history of the Philippines even as it remains struggling with the COVID-19 crisis. Before checking on the official news story, watch first these three relevant videos.
And now we can proceed with the official story of the Philippine News Agency (PNA), the excerpt of which is posted below. Some parts in boldface…
After 97 years, the elusive Olympic gold has finally been taken by the Philippines.
Hidilyn Diaz became the first Filipino athlete to win it all in an Olympic event after winning the women’s 55-kg. weightlifting competition at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan on Monday night.
Diaz, the 2016 Rio Olympics silver medalist, prevailed in a neck and neck showdown with China’s Liao Qiuyun in the clean-and-jerk lift as their battle for the gold went down the wire.
Finishing tied with Diaz in the snatch with a 97-kg. maximum lift, Liao lifted 126 kg. in her final lift, forcing Diaz to go for 127 to steal the top spot from Liao.
Diaz, however, smoothly cleared the 127-kg. lift to win it all, also setting an Olympic record in the process.
Her 224-kg. total is also an Olympic record.
“I don’t know what to say. It’s a dream come true. I just want to say that we Filipinos are strong. We Filipinos can compete here at the Olympics. We can do it,” a high-spirited Diaz was quoted as saying by Xinhuanet.
The 30-year-old Diaz gave advice to younger Filipino athletes to “please dream high.”
“That’s how I started. I dreamed high and finally, I was able to do it,” she added.
Liao admitted that she was surprised by Diaz’s improvement.
“I feel good today. I can lift 123kg at most due to injuries, and never thought of a successful 126kg lift. I didn’t expect her strength like this,” Liao said.
“I didn’t expect such a situation,” he said. “Liao has gone all out, so it’s not a huge pity for her to lose the gold medal. It’s just because we did not expect our opponent (Diaz) to be so strong.”
Diaz has also assured herself of a total of PHP33 million from various people who pledged monetary rewards to the gold medal winners.
Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan claimed the bronze with a total of 213 kg. lifted.
Muattar Nabieva of Uzbekistan, despite setting the Olympic record for the snatch with a 98-kg. lift, missed out on the podium as she could only clear 114 in the C&J for a total of 212.
Malacañang joined the entire nation in celebrating the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal since it joined the most prestigious quadrennial event in 1924.
As you can see in the above PNA story, the first-ever Olympic gold medal won for the Philippines is tremendous and the good news is that, as of this writing, there are still opportunities for other Filipino athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics to win more medals (even gold) and help lift the nation in the medal rankings. Going back to Hidilyn Diaz (who was born in Zamboanga City in 1991), her pioneering achievement will earn her tremendous (and deserving) financial rewards from both the government and private sector. Check out the respective reports of the Manila Bulletin, GMA News and Nikkei Asia. To nobody’s surprise, a big welcome-back-home for her is being prepared.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people around the Philippines, notably public officials who enjoy the automatic mainstream media magnification, expressed their admiration for Diaz and congratulated her. Among the many acknowledgements and congratulatory messages for Diaz expressed by lots of people and organizations (both domestic and foreign), Planetshakers Church in Australia and the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines posted their congratulatory messages for her via their official their respective Facebook pages yesterday. Look at the screenshots below.
Facebook post by Planetshakers.
Post of the Embassy of Israel in the Philippines via Facebook.
Hours after her victory, Diaz posted a picture of herself and the Olympic gold medal on her Instagram as a picture story post. She thanked the people for their prayers.
National fame and Olympic achievement aside, Hidilyn Diaz’s gold medal achievement shows that nothing is impossible with God. Learn from the holy scriptures below…
Jesus looked at them and replied, “With people it is impossible, but not with God—God makes all things possible!”
Mark 10:27 (TPT)
Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!
Luke 1:37 (TPT)
I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ!
Philippians 4:19 (TPT)
I know what it means to lack, and I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.
Philippians 4:12-13 (TPT)
To our Lord is all the glory and let us praise and thank Him so much for anointing Hidilyn Diaz who not only won the Philippines’ first-ever Olympic gold medal but also all the many medals and honors she achieved in other international events as the representative of the Philippines. She truly deserves the financial rewards and the inevitable long-lasting fame that comes with being the nation’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist. Still you must always remember that worship is only for the Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Never let idolatry dominate you for it is not only unholy, not only foolish but also will separate you from the Lord.
Let me ask you readers: How much of an impact did Hidilyn Diaz’s Olympic gold medal victory have on you as a citizen of the Philippines? Did you ever doubt she would win the gold medal in the Olympics? Does her gold medal victory inspire you to improve yourself?
In closing this article, posted below is a performance of the great Hillsong worship song King of Kings by Melody Hwang.
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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
2020 National Age Group Triathlon Season Kicks Off at Subic Bay on January 26
After delivering the first two gold and silver medals of the recently concluded 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), triathlon opens a new decade in the country with the launch of the 2020 season of the National Age Group Triathlon series which will fire off with close to a thousand participants on January 26 in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
A joint project of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), the season opening race will have participants challenging themselves with the Standard Distance (1.5 Km swim – 40 Km bike – 10 Km run), Sprint Distance (750 M swim – 20 Km bike – 5 Km run) and Super Sprint Distance (500 M swim – 13 Km bike – 2.5 Km run) prepared for them with San Bernardino serving as the main venue for starting, transition and finishing.
At stake in the event supported by the SBMA, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Standard Insurance, FINIS and Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines (ACIP) are gift packs and winners’ medals for the Top 3 winners of each age-group category per distance as well as the Team Relay category.
Entry fees are set at P3,750 for Standard Distance, P3,000 for Sprint Distance, P2,500 for Super Sprint Distance and P7,500 for the Team Relay. Inclusive with the entry fees are the post-race meal, the finisher’s medal and race t-shirt. Registration will end on December 31 or when all slots have been filled up.
As the anticipation for the 30th Southeast Asian Games (30th SEA Games) grows, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC)announced on September 18 that they expected more than 35,000 people to sign up for the biennial sports meet which will open on November 30 and last until December 11.
According to Alona Quintos (director for accreditation and uniforms), the PHISGOC has received close to eleven thousand applications for accreditation from athlete and officials of the eleven nations participating in the big event.
Already 9,552 have been screened while more than eight thousand personnel have been granted access to the SEA Games. The organizers have been paying close attention to security to make sure that each and every person who got accredited is cleared. Quintos added that pre-valid accreditation cards or PVACs of the eleven national Olympic committees will start printing on September 30.
With regards to media, close to 1,500 personnel composed of journalists, photojournalists, videographers and broadcasters have applied to cover the 30th SEA Games.
So far, the preparation for the SEA Games here in the Philippines is looking good. In fact there were technical delegates from various sports who lauded the local organizers for the preparation and the venues. For one thing, Valson Cuddikotta (technical delegate for athletics) cited the track-and-field stadium in New Clark City as a world-class facility and noted PHISGOC’s efforts to come up with such fantastic venues. Cuddikotta believes the Philippines can conduct any event of the highest magnitude.
Historically speaking, the Philippines hosted the SEA Games in 1981, 1991 and 2005. The very first SEA Games were held in Thailand way back in 1959.
Tickets to the Games
For those who want to watch the SEA Games in person here in the Philippines, the organizers have teamed up with SM Tickets and tickets are being sold at www.SMtickets.com
For your reference regarding the 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup that was held this past weekend (April 27 and 28) at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, here are the post-race photo releases that got published in the Manila Times, Malaya Business Insight and People’s Journal.
Hong Kong, China Share in Day’s Glory in Subic Bay
Subic Bay, Philippines – April 28, 2019 – Fresh from its domination of the sprint events a day earlier, powerhouse Hong Kong found the men’s and women’s elite field in the 26th edition of the 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup , a tougher nut to crack and had to settle for a share in the day’s glory with HK winning the men’s side and China ruling the distaff side at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
HK’s Oscar Coggins , now campaigning in the men’s elite from the junior ranks, took advantage of his familiarity with hot weather racing conditions, took first place in 1:49.20 , repulsing the challenge of the feared Japanese team that took the next 5 slots after Coggins with reigning Asian Games champion and top seed Jumpei Furuya settling for a very close second place in 1:49.30 while Takumi Hojo placed 3rd in 1:49.45. Rounding out the top 5 finishers were Shiruba Taniguchi who negotiated the 1standard distance race in 1:50.11 , and Yuichi Hosoda in 1:50.36.
” I like the hot weather, I have been training n Australia the past two months , but I really did not ease up until the finish line. I am happy with my time, ” said Coggins who took the lead at the 6K mark and steadily pulled away from the rest.
Another surprise however was in the local side where 19 year old Cebuano Andrew Remolino upstaged his older and more experienced national team mates with his 17th place finish in 1:54.49, his first sub two hour race, target ko sana majasali sa top 10 malalakas lahat ng kalaban, sa mga locals, nakauna ako sa swim leg at na maintain ko yung lead, wala ng nakahabol, ” said Remolino who trains under his father, coach Andoy Remolino.
With his finish, the younger Remolino has positioned himself as a contender for a slot in the forthcoming SEA Games, : hopeful ako na ma select ako sa national team , ” added Remolino after the race supported by the POC, the PSC, SBMA and its Tourism Department, Standard Insurance, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines (ACIP), NTT, ACEA Beach Resort & Hotel and Pocari Sweat.
On the women’s competition, defending champion Mengying Zhong, reasserted herself anew and led practically led from start to finish but pulled away in the final run leg en route to a solo finish in 2:04.17 with the Japanese afain relegated to runner up finishes with Aoi Kuranoto a far second in 2:04.41, followed by Yurie Kato who negotiated the 1.4K swim -40K bike – 10K distance race in 2:05.32. HK’s Yan Yin Hilda Choi took 4th place in 2:05.37 while in 5th was Macau entry Long Hoi with a finishing time of 2:05.57.
Best placed Filipina was national triathlete Kim Kilgroe who finished in 12th place overall with her time of 2:10.10 even as she is practically assured of a slot in the SEA Games together with Kim mangrobang who is training and competing in Europe, and SEA Games gold medalist Claire Adorna who ended in 15th place in yesterday’s race in Subic. Adorna clocked 2:13.01.
” This was definitely a strong field with several world ranked participants . For the national team, we will have our final qualifying race in Korea in June where we will bring our national training pool for a camp and race in the Asian Cup, then we will announce the final selection for the SEA Games, a minimum of 3 , maximum of 5 triathletes, ” said Triathlon Association of the Philippines ( TRAP ) president Tom Carrasco Jr. who cited the performance of Remolino in the race.
2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup Day Two awarding Awarding of the Male and Female Elite Top 3 winners at the recently concluded 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup inside the freeport led by Men’s champion Oscar Coggins from Hong Kong and back-to-back Women’s champion Mengying Zhong of China.
2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup Men’s Champion Men’s Elite champion Oscar Coggins from Hong Kong at the finish line during the 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup held yesterday (Sunday) inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
Press release and photo captions composed by Lito Cinco.
Subic Bay, Philippines – April 27, 2019 – It was a complete domination by the mighty Hong Kong team in the sprint events on the first day of the two-day 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) Asian Cup as HK triathletes placed 8 entries in the top ten of the men’s sprint distance featuring 16 to 19 year olds while 7 female entries placed in the top ten, including a sweep of the top three places in both division.
In the super sprint distance though, the Philippines managed to share the glory with a second place finish in the boys’ side and a third place achievement in the distaff side to share in the day’s glory.
The duo of Jason Hardcastle and Nicholas Tsang Cheung Singh set the tone from the start of the swim leg in the sprint race that started at the ACEA Beach Resort & Hotel as they left the other participants literally in their wake and were never pressured en route to an easy 1 – 2 finish with Hardcastle retaining the title he won last year, clocking 56 minutes and 46 seconds for the 750m. swim-20K bike-5K run while Sing , who was left behind in the final run lap, finished in 57.11. Philip Chenaux-Repond completed the 1-2-3 finish by HK in 58.34.
” I was focused on a podium finish, I knew I was in good form and I was not really pressured, the weather though was very hot, ” said Hardcastle after the race sanctioned by the International Triathlon Union ( ITU ) and the Asian Triathlon Confederation ( ASTC ) and backed by SBMA and its Tourism Department, the Philippine Olympic Committee ( POC ) Philippine Sports Commission ( PSC ), Pocari Sweat, Standard Insurance, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines (ACIP), NTT, and the ACEA Beach Resort & Hotel.
Best placed local bet was Christian Legacy Academy student Joshua Ramos, 17, who sneaked in at 8th overall with a time of 1:00.57 while the other Filipino triathlete in the top ten was Juan Baniqued in 10th place, finishing in 1:01.35.
” Sa swim pa lang ang layo na gad nung dalawa, but in my case, I was not even expecting this because I knew how strong the field was this year,I really should work more on my swim in the future, ” said Ramos
The distaff side saw a start to finish victory by HK ‘s Bailee Brown who negotiated the distance in 1:04.03 despite the hot weather that bothered her, ” it was a tough race anyway you look at it but I was confident of winning, my strategy was just to be ahead at all time. I am certainly happy with the win and my swimming showed a big improvement, ” said the pretty 19-year-old student from HK University who also competes regularly in the standard distance and even qualified in the last Asian Games’ triathlon event.
Twin sisters Cade and Tulullah Wright, also from Hong Kong, grabbed the next two slots, finishing in 1:04.45 and 1:05.06 respectively to complete the sweep for HK in the junior female elite division of the race .
National triathlete Karen Manayon managed to squeeze herself in the top ten , finishing in 10th place with a time of 1:11.29, The Talisay, Cebu native admitted she was surprised and happy about her performance but not with her time , ” medyo mabigat katawan ko pag gising kanina but no excuse, sobra talaga lakas ng mga taga Hong Kong. “
Nick Yip Tak long and Jan Yip sandwiched local bet Matthew Hermosa in the top 3 of the super sprint distance race as Long took first place in 33.51 i while Yip clocked 35.54 with Hermosa matching up well with a runner-up finish in 35.24.
” Malakas yung champion sa swim, nakalayo agad siya at di ko na nakita pero masaya na ako sa finish ko, ” said the 13 year old Hermosa from Talisay, Cebu and mentored by Andoy Remolino.
HK’s Pauline Courret and Roxanne Wright, younger of the Wright twins, took first and second places, clocking 36.49 and 37.04 respectively while La Union native Lady Samantah Corpuz sprang a surprise with a third place finish in 37.42 also in the super sprint distance race.
” Kulang sa training dahil galing ako sa sa sakit, two weeks ako hindi naka train, ” said Corpuz, a National Age Group Triathlon champion in Subic earlier this year.
” No excuses, the Hong Kong team was just too strong , they have a very good program and has been producing junior champions, in fact in the region, HK is the only one that can compete against Japan. What we need to do is adopt the same approach of Hong Kong in strengthening our junior triathletes especially in the swim leg, ” said Tom Carrasco Jr, president of the organizing Triathlon Association of the Philippines ( TRAP ).
Tomorrow morning (Sunday), focus will be on the men’s and women’s elite races which will also serve as a qualifying event for local triathletes for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).
The official press release of the 2019 NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon (SuBIT) made it in the sports pages today (March 28, 2019) of the following national publications. Online versions of the published releases are clickable with some of the publications below.
Registration ends on March 31 or earlier when all slots have been filled up. Online registration can be done at https://regonline.activeglobal.com/subit2019 For more information, visit Triathlon.org.ph or send email at trapsecretariat@gmail.com
Author Carlo Carrasco 