Chicano stellar in two Saudi races
John Leerams Chicano thrived in two Saudi Arabia races in a week’s span, which speaks well of how sharp the national triathlon team could be in the Southeast Asian Games later this year.
The double-gold medalist in the SEA Games ruled the men’s elite sprint of the Jeddah Tribe Sprint Triathlon over the weekend shortly after securing a silver medal in the sprint distance of the Al Jubail Triathlon.
“I thank the Lord for the strength from last week’s Jubail race to yesterday’s Jeddah tribe triathlon,’’ said Chicano after beating 45 other competitors for the title in the 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5km run in one hour, 01:03.
Saudi Seifeldeen Ismail checked in 29 seconds slower than Chicano for the silver followed by third-placer Ali Alzoobie half a minute later.
Chicano, who races for the national squad under Triathlon Philippines and Go For Gold Philippines, skipped the National Age Group Triathlon on Sunday in Subic Bay Freeport, which served as one of the qualifying races for the Thailand SEA Games in December.
Cebu natives Andrew Kim Remolino and Raven Alcoseba retained their crowns in the men’s and women’s sprint distance—the core individual event in the triathlon races during the 11-nation biennial sportsfest.
With Chicano and Remolino bannering the men’s sprint in the Thailand SEAG, and six-time gold medalist Kim Mangrobang expected to be on board in the women’s side together with Alcoseba, Team Philippines could again assert itself in the swim-bike-run event.
The team for the SEA Games will be finalized in June, after which it will enter a series of high-performance camps in Desmor, Portugal from July to August and in Rayong, Thailand in November.
Among the key races in preparation for the SEA Games are the Asia Cup in Chennai, India next month, the Asian Sprint Championships in Hong Kong in April and the Subic Bay International Triathlon in May.
