INQUIRER Sports

THE INTERNATIONAL TRAINING came in handy for Lea Coline Langit.

The country’s top female triathlete, toughened by stints in Australia and South Korea, brought home a gold medal and a bronze in an impressive showing at the 2009 Asian Aquathlon Championship-Invitational Triathlon in Palenbang, Indonesia, over the weekend.

Langit, a sports management graduate from La Salle, prevailed in the Asian Aquathlon Saturday, clocking 25 minutes and 31 seconds in the 1-km swim and 2.5-km run.

Though she wound up third overall behind Russians Anastacsia Polyanskaya and Lubou Ivanovskaya, the 22-year-old Filipino’s clocking was the best among Asians.

Australian Regina Wright clocked 26:22 for the silver and Singapore’s Yi Ling timed 26:31 for the bronze.

Bucking fatigue, Langit, backed by the Triathlon Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Sports Commission, finished third in the triathlon the next day with a time of 2:15 in the 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run, trailing the top two Russian finishers by just two minutes.

The comely Langit also bagged a bronze medal in the 25th Dijon Triathlon held in France last July.