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Paul McNamara

No Hong Kong athlete managed to secure Asian Games selection but there was more to like than not from a trio of encouraging World Triathlon Cup performances in Chengdu on Saturday.
Oscar Coggins delivered the best swim and run legs of his career but had to settle for 41st despite finishing just 66 seconds behind winner Luke Willian.
In the women’s race, Bailee Brown was also 41st, with Tallulah Wright seven places back; efforts that Andrew Wright, the head coach, said showed the pair had made “night-and-day progress” from this time last year.
Hilda Choi Yan-yin was 57th, having narrowly missed a large bike group out of the water. Top 20 had been the requirement to bank selection for September’s Games in what doubled as Hong Kong’s first selection race, but Andrew Wright, who pulls no punches when he sees fit, was unequivocally upbeat.
“I’m very positive, and I think the athletes are, too,” he said. “The beauty of this weekend is that we haven’t yet done much race-specific work. Being competitive, and running and swimming those times, after mainly base training is a really good sign.”

Coggins was with a large leading group throughout the swim and bike before he covered the 5km run in 15 minutes and five seconds. The top 38 finishers all dipped beneath 15 minutes.
“That’s his fastest run off a bike, having done no training at the pace he ran today,” said Wright, who estimates Coggins will have to clock around 14:30 for an Asian Games medal.
Finishing in an overall time of 51:20, Coggins trailed behind the China trio of Li Mingxu, Ma Yunxiang and Zhang Xirui, who placed 26th, 27th and 28th, respectively. Aoba Yasumatsu of Japan sent an early Games warning shot, coming home 19th.
Nonetheless, Wright said an “easy” bike leg allowed the Chinese athletes a get-out-of-jail card after they were detached following the swim.
“The Asian Games bike course is very technical and they wouldn’t have been in the race [after losing touch],” Wright said. “The race coming together on the bike is the worst-case scenario for us.
“It’s not a technical course here, and the guys all have similar swimming ability, so it was hard to break away. Everyone just sat up and looked at each other, because there was no point riding hard.”
Australian Willian pipped Nils Serre Gehri of France to victory after both men finished in 50:14, two seconds quicker than Canada’s third-placed Tyler Mislawchuk.
“This is good progress for Oscar, we have to keep chipping away and systematically edging up the training to obtain consistent and explainable results,” Wright said.
In a women’s race won by Laura Lindemann of Germany, Brown and Tallulah Wright, no relation to the coach, clung to the front group over the 750m swim and 20km bike before tailing off on foot. Clocking 57:02, Brown was beaten home by only one Asian athlete, Lin Xinyu of China, who was 22nd in 56:15.
“In this race last year, Tallulah wasn’t competitive and Bailee wasn’t on the start list,” Wright said. “They’ll take so much confidence from this. They performed like professional athletes.”
Valentina Riasova of Russia was second after equalling German Lindemann’s 55:27 winning time, while Great Britain’s Kate Waugh was a second back in third.
Brown and Wright will join Coggins and Nick Yip Tak-long in Sunday’s mixed relay, before the squad return home to prepare for an Asia Triathlon Cup leg in Lianyungang in a fortnight, when a podium finish for any Hong Kong athlete would seal their Asian Games spot.


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Oscar Coggins in career-best form, while Bailee Brown and Tallulah Wright showed ‘night-and-day progress’


Oscar Coggins in career-best form, while Bailee Brown and Tallulah Wright showed ‘night-and-day progress’.


Hong Kong triathletes’ World Cup efforts provide Asian Games boost

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Oscar Coggins in career-best form, while Bailee Brown and Tallulah Wright showed ‘night-and-day progress’

Oscar Coggins in career-best form, while Bailee Brown and Tallulah Wright showed ‘night-and-day progress’