Asia Triathlon

Texto tambin en espaol. A dominant display on the bike saw Wang Hongni crowned the first ever Asian Games womens triathlon champion, the Chinese star crossing the finish line on Dohas popular Corniche in a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes 44.37 seconds.

The Asian No 5-ranked triathlete had emerged from the 1500m swim in Doha Bay in second place, albeit only a second behind Malaysias Yap Fui Li as part of a group of four who had broken away from the rest of the 16-strong field.

However she hit the front with the quickest transition and never looked back, pedalling out to a 5.43 minutes lead on the 40km bike leg over Asian champion and pre-event favourite Ai Ueda of Japan. Ueda did manage to reduce this huge deficit to just under 4:21 minutes on the final leg the 10km run along the Corniche but Wang was not to be denied her place in the Asian Games history books.

The 24 year-old was so far in front that she had time to wave to the crowd in the final 300m and even high-five a Chinese official behind the barriers, a huge grin spread across her face the whole time knowing the gold was hers.

I’m very happy, very excited, I just cannot express my feelings! I feel relaxed now, said Wang, a former cyclist before converting to triathlon.

Cycling is my strongest point, I have the ability because I practised. But today I won because of the swim. I am very persistent because it is a long distance.

“Even though cycling is my strongest point, I felt a lot of stress and it was very difficult. I took the initiative to overcome the others and I was leading at the beginning and I kept it in my mind that ‘I am in the lead’”.

The Japanese favourite broke clear of the four-strong chasing pack which also feature Yap, Chinas Xing Lin and Lea Langit of the Philippines at the start of the run and finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 4.81 seconds.

Xing looked to be struggling on the run and, despite having led her by 1:33 minutes at the final transition, the Chinese triathlete was overtaken by Japans Akiko Sekine  who had the fastest run split for the bronze medal on the second lap.

Malaysian Yap had set the pace in the early stages of the swim in the clear blue waters of Doha Bay, establishing a two body lengths lead midway round the first 750m lap and she rounded the buoys in the lead.

Yap, Alla Safonova of Uzbekistan, Wang and Xing began to put some water between themselves and the spread out field on the second lap with the Malaysian emerging onto the pontoon first in 19:39 minutes.

However the Chinese duo were the quickest in transition and hit the Corniche first, Wang quickly striking out on her own in the lead and after the first 8km lap the Asian No 2 triathlete was 1:15 minutes ahead of her compatriot.

Ueda emerged from the swim in sixth place, some 35 seconds behind Yap, but by the end of the first of five laps on the bike she had moved up to third, leading a chasing group of four.

Working together Ueda, Yap and Langit hauled in Xing but by the end of the second lap Wang had a commanding lead of 3.03 minutes over her nearest challengers in the cool temperatures.

Try as the chasing quartet did to close the gap on the third lap as light rain began to fall again in Doha, Wang continued to push on and her lead had increased to almost four minutes by the 24km mark.

Ueda tried to make a break from the pack on the fourth lap and again at the start of the fifth but, while she managed it initially, she was quickly sucked back into the pack, who trailed by 4:45 minutes going into the final 8km of the run.

Wang, a lonely figure out in front as the rain began to fall heavier, continued to stretch her lead, finishing the 40km bike leg in 1:02.29 for an accumulated time of 1:22.09 some 5.43 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.

Her compatriot Xing entered the transition stage first, but Ueda was quickest in donning her running shoes and set off on the huge task of trying to catch Wang, the four chasing pack spreading out in the opening minutes of 2-lap run.

The margin ultimately proved to big for even Ueda to claw back and it was China who had cause to celebrate with the first ever triathlon champion. Hirokatsu Tayama, like Ueda the reigning Asian champion, will hope to restore Japanese pride with victory in the mens triathlon, which starts at 12:30.

1.WANG Hongni (CHN)1:59:44.27
2. UEDA Ai (JPN)2:04:04.81
3. SEKINE Akiko (JPN)2:04:48.42
4. XING Lin (CHN)2:05:36.77
5. SHATNAYA Yekaterina (KAZ) 2:06:56.21
6. MAK So Ning Tania (HKG) 2:09:23.60
7. YAP Fui Li (MAS)2:10:07.32
8. BAILEY Christine Anne (HKG) 2:12:05.89
9. NAM Na Eun (KOR) 2:12:14.66
10.KIM Hye Min (KOR)2:13:59.69

Click here for official results

Photo courtesy of Satoshi Takasaki (All rights reserved)

China se hace con el oro en los Juegos Asiticos (8 de Diciembre de 2006)

La triatleta china Hongi Wang deleito a la multitud hoy en Doha con un poderoso rendimiento que le hizo hacerse con la medalla de oro en el triatln inaugural de los Juegos Asiticos.  

Ai Ueda y Akiko Sekine se hicieron con la plata y el bronce respectivamente.

Con un valiente rendimiento Wang fue segunda en la salida de la natacin con un tiempo de 19:40, justo un segundo por detrs de Fui Li Yap, de Malaysia. Luego se escap en la primera vuelta de la bici junto con su compaera de equipo y cuarta clasificada Lin Xing. No tard mucho de todos modos en quedarse sola Wang, y que siguiese as hasta el final de la carrera.

En una impresionante exibicin de poder y determinacin, Wang continuamente increment su liderato en la bici y cuando lleg a la segunda transicin tena una ventaja de 5 minutos 34 segundos sobre el grupo perseguidor, de 4 atletas, que incluya a Lin Xing (CHN), Ai Ueda (JPN), Fui Li Yap (MAS) y Lea Langit (PHI). Akiko Sekine, con un sorprendentemente bajo rendimiento estaba a ms de 7 minutos de la lder.

Wang se sinti a gusto a medida que resisti en su posicin llegando en un tiempo de 1:59:54. Mientras tanto la verdadera batalla estaba en el segundo y tercer puesto, con Akiko Sekine corriendo la ms rpida del da para situarse en la tercera posicin, por detrs de su compaera de equipo Ai Ueda.

1.WANG Hongni (CHN) 1:59:44.27
2. UEDA Ai (JPN) 2:04:04.81
3. SEKINE Akiko (JPN) 2:04:48.42
4. XING Lin (CHN) 2:05:36.77
5. SHATNAYA Yekaterina (KAZ) 2:06:56.21
6. MAK So Ning Tania (HKG) 2:09:23.60
7. YAP Fui Li (MAS) 2:10:07.32
8. BAILEY Christine Anne (HKG) 2:12:05.89
9. NAM Na Eun (KOR) 2:12:14.66
10.KIM Hye Min (KOR) 2:13:59.69

Acceda a los resultados oficiales

Foto cortesia de Satoshi Takasaki (Todos los derechos reservados)