Women’s triathlon gold medalist Kim Mangrobang. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/SEA GAMES POOL
KUALA LUMPUR — All race long and on her way to the women’s triathlon gold, Marion Kim Mangrobang was only thinking of one thing: Get this over with and catch some sleep.
The 25-year-old, giddy after having won over close friend and former champion Ma. Claire Adorna, who took silver, said she could finally sleep all through the night.
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“I want to sleep, I wasn’t able to sleep last night because I was staring at the ceiling all night,” Mangrobang told the Inquirer after a three-hour wait for the required dope test.
The Santa Rosa, Laguna-native started in the national junior team at the age of 12 when she qualified for the 1.5-kilometer swim and 3k run tryouts.
“I consider myself as a lousy swimmer,” said Mangrobang.
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“I consider her as a close friend,” said Mangrobang of Adorna. “Close as in we know each other’s love life.”
But Mangrobang, who finished seven minutes ahead of Adorna, said they didn’t “fix” the results.
“We hardly talked during the race, you can’t talk during the race,” said Mangrobang. “This morning it was too hot. All I had in mind was to finish it.”