PALEMBANG - The Philippine men's triathlon team landed a top ten finish in the 2018 Asian Games as John Chicano earned his way to 10th place overall on Saturday at Jakabaring Sports City.
Even more impressive, Chicano's time of 1:54:33 happened to be the best finish for the Philippines at the quadrennial meet, which uses an Olympic distance for triathlon. Jonard Saim also made it into the top ten back in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon but he had a time of 1:59:00.
"I'm so happy that we got the top 10," said Chicano, who raced in the men's elite category for the first time after competing in the mixed relay event back in 2014.
Nikko Huelgas, the other Filipino in the race, finished 16th overall with a time of 1:58:39. Huelgas was 11th overall in Incheon but finished slower by nearly a minute.
"It has been a different level the past couple of years," shared Huelgas, who was only 19 during his first Asian Games in Guangzhou. "Now, all our opponents are really tough, which is good. We're challenged more and the sport is getting bigger. The level is higher and we are getting pulled along. Nobody becomes complacent and everybody becomes more motivated to do their best."
Huelgas and Chicano have attained better finish times for the Philippines at the Asian Games but if you ask them, it's not about their personal records or best finishes. Although triathlon is an individual race, there's room for a lot of teamwork for athletes. Both Huelgas and Chicano stressed that the Philippines' collective goal to finish in the top ten at the Asian Games trumps their individual aspirations.
"It was a really good team tactic. We had planned what we were going to do today," shared Huelgas. "We wanted a top ten for the Philippines."
"Nikko and I did teamwork in the swim and in the bike," Chicano also said. "In the run, I willed myself to catch up. I caught up with them one by one then we got into the top ten. Overall, I'm happy."
The two shared that they've been training together for the past couple of months in the hopes of a better finish for team Philippines against the best triathletes in Asia.
"Asian Games is our biggest race of the year. We've been really preparing for this because the level of this race is really high compared than the other races we've been competing," Huelgas said. "We have competed here with the best triathletes in the continent, some are Olympians. We wanted to make sure we could compete in this level of racing."
After landing in the top ten and earning better finish times, Huelgas and Chicano truly represented the country to the best of their abilities.
"There's a lot of room for improvement in Philippine Triathlon and again, we keep saying this, this is only the beginning," said Huelgas. "For the next four years, we can assure you that this will be better, we will be delivering better results, and again we will have better teamwork."