Mangrobang, Chicano bag Asian Cup triathlon golds

KIM Mangrobang and John Chicano topped their respective age groups in the 2013 Cold Storage Triathlon-ITU Asian Cup held at East Coast Park in Singapore over the weekend.

Mangrobang, the country’s top amateur female triathlete, captured the under-23 gold medal in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds after finishing 10th among 17 entries in the women’s elite category.

The 22-year-old Chicano timed 2:13:36 to beat fellow national teammate Kevin Eijansantos (2:20:39) and Jeaker Nawrooz Hama of Iraq (2:34:26) in the men’s under-23.

Chicano, a prized find from Zambales, could have ended up with a better time if he didn’t hit a buoy in the swim leg.

“The course was difficult and I made a mistake in the swim part,” said Chicano, the reigning Philippine National Games champion, in Filipino.

Earlier, Justin Chiongbian won gold and Vicky Deldeo settled for the silver in the 13-15 bracket to boost their preparation for next year’s Youth Olympic Games qualifying race in Kazakhstan.

Four other Filipinos landed in the top 10 as Jared Macalalad (1:10:53) and Pauline Fornea both placed sixth, and Jimuel Patilan (1:16:12) and Magali Echauz (1:21:29) finished ninth and seventh in their respective categories.

“We won three gold and two silver medals—it was a remarkable performance,” said Philippine Olympic Committee chair Tom Carrasco, president of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines. June Navarro