Just like in 2015, the second gold medal of the Philippines came from none other than the fastest triathlete in Southeast Asia, Nikko Huelgas.
Nikko Bryan Huelgas breezed through the course in men’s individual triathlon to pocket the delagation’s second gold of the 29th Southeast Asian Games.
The former De La Salle University Green Tanker had to crawl back from a fifth place after the swim leg (20:57) before taking rallying back in the cycling event (1:00:00). From there, he aced the competition, finishing with a 1:59.3 time — faster than the 2:04.32 mark he logged in two years ago in Singapore.
John Chicano, who is competing for the first time in the biennial Games, made it a 1-2 finish for the Philippine triathletes, clocking in at 2:01.27 (swim: 21:49, bike: 1:01:23, run: 37:34).
As of this writing, the women’s individual event is still underway with 2015 gold and silver medalists Claire Adorna and Kim Mangrobang are competing.
