PALEMBANG - Filipinas Kim Mangrobang and Kim Kilgroe both finished in the top 10 of the women's triathlon event at the 2018 Asian Games on Friday.
The pair of Pinay athletes raced hard under the sweltering heat at the Jakabaring Sports City course but missed out on a podium finish. Mangrobang settled for seventh place with a time of 2:05:20, improving her rank from her ninth-place finish at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. Kilgroe meanwhile, made a strong debut with her 2:06:57 finish, good for ninth place.
Japan's Yuko Takahashi dominated the competition from start to finish to earn gold in women's triathlon, which followed the Olympic distance of 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run. China's Zhong Mengying won silver and Hoi Long earned bronze.
For the Philippines, making it into the top ten against Asia's best triathletes may already be a satisfying performance.
"I'm happy with the result," Mangrobang said. "We did what we could for team Philippines and we trained really hard for this."
Last year's SEA Games gold medalist Mangrobang was fresh from her training in Portugal and was determined to give an impressive outing. She finished seventh in the swim and came out of the bike-run transition in 11th place. In the run, she wasn't able to break into the leading pack but still managed seventh overall.
Kilgroe, on the other hand, came out of the water at 14th place but made up for lost time in the bike leg.
"I didn't really know what to kind of expect so I definitely executed the race according to my own plan which was to hammer down on the bike and catch everyone," she shared, mentioning that it was an honor for to represent the country in her first Asian Games. "And that's why I did and just gave everything I had on the run. So I couldn't complain about anything really."
Kilgroe's strategy seemed to pay off as she came out of the bike-run transition in second place, trailing Takahashi, but her combatants were right behind her. After an impressive bike performance, the rest of the competition caught up quickly.
"The second and third pack caught up with the first half, it was like one big pack when they all arrived in transition two (bike to run transition)," assessed coach Ani de Leon-Brown. "The Japanese had a really good tactic today. The second Japanese, (Yuka) Sato killed the pace of the whole pack."
According to de Leon-Brown, the dynamics in ITU (International Triathlon Union) races such as the race at the Asian Games matter. Athletes usually form groups or packs together in the swim and bike leg. In the Japanese's case, Sato turned out to be a sacrificial lamb in order for Takahashi to break away from the pack. It was difficult for both Mangrobang and Kilgroe to try and keep up with Takahashi because the second and third packs merged in the bike-run transition.
"When they come off the bike that's when you know, they break free in the run," said de Leon-Brown. "If the three packs didn't catch up with one another, she (Mangrobang) would have had a better chance for top five but it's okay for that effort."
On Saturday, it will be the men's triathlon as Nikko Huelgas and John Chicano will represent the Philippines. Mangrobang will see action again on Sunday for the mixed relay event together with Claire Adorna, John Chicano, and Mark Hosana.