Top national triathletes to train in Portugal

Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) champion Kim Mangrobang recently resumed training in a high-performance camp in Portugal as the country’s elite triathletes ramp up preparations for the opening of Olympic qualifying races in less than two months.

The 28-year-old Mangrobang went to the rustic town of Rio Maior where the defending two-time SEAG women’s triathlon gold medalist will stay at Desmor Sports Center and train under renowned coach Sergio Santos until June.

Expected to join Mangrobang at Desmor in the next couple of weeks is Filipino-Spanish Fernando Jose Casares, who teamed up with Mangrobang, Claire Adorna and John Chicano for the mixed relay gold medal in the 2019 SEA Games.

Casares is currently in Madrid, Spain awaiting word for his trip to Portugal.

Chicano, the reigning SEAG men’s champion, opted to train in the country under coach Brett Sutton like SEA Games silver medalist Kim Remolino, who is based in Cebu.

Kim Kilgroe, a silver medalist in the SEAG women’s swim-bike-run discipline, is another Olympic aspirant based in Los Angeles, California.

After the qualifying races sanctioned by World Triathlon, the top 55 male and female triathletes in the globe will make it to the Tokyo Olympics scheduled July 26-31 at Odaiba Marine Park.

Meanwhile, Philippine Sports Commission commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who has been appointed Team Philippines chief of mission in the coming Vietnam SEA Games, will sit down with Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino on Friday to discuss the preparations for the 11-nation sportsfest. INQ