SEA Games: Duathlon queen Monica Torres bags gold for PH

Filipino duathlete Monica Torres leads the pack at gun start of the elite women’s duathlon competition of the 30th sea games in Subic, Zambales. Inquirer/Grig c. Montegrande

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Buoyed by the highly partisan crowd, Monica Torres ruled the women’s duathlon race in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

“It’s really different when you race here at home. You get inspired by the crowd,’’ said Torres, the women’s Filipino elite Ironman champion for six consecutive years.

Torres started out strong in the 10km run and cranked it up in the 40km bike sequence before finishing with a flair in the final 5km run that made up for the silver medal of Joey Delos Reyes earlier in the men’s category.

Monica Torres wins women’s duathlon gold medal #SEAGames2019 pic.twitter.com/rY0i8YBAAt

— June Navarro (@junavINQ) December 2, 2019

Torres clocked two hours, eight minutes and 44 seconds to beat eventual silver medalist Sonsem Pareeya of Thailand (2:11:18) and bronze performer Nguyen Thi Phuong Trinh of Vietnam (2:14:20).

Johan Jauhari captured Indonesia’s first-ever gold medal in duathlon in 1:52:51 before Delos Santos checked in 13 seconds later under cloudy skies at the Subic Bay Boardwalk here.

Srinate Nattawut of Thailand completed the podium a hairline slower than Delos Santos in 1:53:04.