Kim Mangrobrang took steps towards her Olympic dreams after finishing in 11th place in the elite women’s event at the 2021 Asian Triathlon Championships, Saturday in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan.
The reigning back-to-back Southeast Asian Games champion clocked in at 2:16:57, just almost two minutes off a top 10 finish, to gain points for her bid to get the country’s first-ever entry in the sport since its inception in 2000 in Athens.
Mangrobang, 29, was one of the last ones out of the water with 20:26, but leader Zhong Mengying of China was not far behind at 19:00. Using a swift transition into the bike leg, she was able to make up some grounds.
Some struggles in the run leg of the race doomed Mangrobang into slipping out of the top 10, but nonetheless she was able to recover for the finish.
Zhong went on to take the win amidst the onslaught of the Japanese opponents with a time of 2:08:10. Hometown bets Yuka Sato and Ai Ueda rounded up the podium with 2:10:32 and 2:10:37, respectively.
On the other hand, Fer Casares finished in 13th among 20 finishers in the elite men’s event with a time of 1:57:40.
Japan swept the podium with Kenji Nener leading the charge for the Japanese with 1:48:59. Takumi Hojo and Jumpei Furuya accompanied Nener on the podium after clocking in 1:50:00 and 1:50:29, respectively.
Andrew Remolino went 23rd out of the water with 20:42, but could not recover as he was lapped.
