Hong Kong triathletes fire National Games warning shots at Asia Championships
Oscar Coggins finishes fourth in Istanbul, with Robin Elg one place further back. Japan’s Takumi Hojo claims gold ahead of Zhang Xiriu.
Hong Kong’s triathletes put in a “heroic effort” on Saturday to secure the best finish ever by the men at an Asia Championships, and “fired warning shots” at their mainland rivals ahead of the National Games.
Oscar Coggins, the Tokyo Olympian, finished fourth in Istanbul, with Robin Elg one place behind. Mainland China’s Zhang Xiriu, who won the Games test event in Hong Kong in March, was second, behind winner Takumi Hojo of Japan.
Uzbekistan’s Jeremy Quindos came third. It was a tougher day for Paris Olympian Jason Ng Tai-long, who trailed in 18th, while Wong Tsz-to, who has already sealed his spot in November’s race, was 27th.
“We’ve never had two in the top five in our history and it was the deepest field and hardest Asia Championships I have seen by a long way,” Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach, said.
“We’ve fired warning shots for the National Games. We were the second and third Chinese athletes across the line, and we’ve sent a clear message that we’re going to make this race as hard as possible from the gun.”
Coggins and Elg have put themselves in pole position to join Wong in the city’s three-man team for a shot at Games success on home soil. That would leave Ng as the odd man out, barely a year after he was Hong Kong’s lone triathlon representative in the French capital.