By Les Tan. Pictures by REDintern Vanessa Lim.
East Coast Park, Sunday, July 13, 2008 – Dinah Chan of Singapore placed first in the Under-23 elite category at the recently concluded Singapore International Triathlon last weekend. She finished the Olympic-distance triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run) in a time of 2 hours 26 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of fellow Singaporean Jinah Woo (02:45:39). SEA Games gold medallist Mok Ying Ren finished second in the U-23 elite category with a time of 2:06:46 behind Wang Daqing of China (02:03:38).
Said Mok after the race: “It was a really really hot day for everyone and despite living in this climate, it was still a little hard to adapt to the heat. The swim was really choppy and a little long. I had a bad transition, almost missing the cycling pack. But I managed to catch it back. The run however was really hot and I could not perform well.”
Australians Courtney Atkinson and Emma Moffatt won their respective elite categories as part of their continued preparations for the Beijing Olympics. Atkinson is a three-time International Triathlon Union World Cup winner and he finished his race in 01:54:31 while Moffatt finished seven minutes ahead of compatriot Sarah Crowley in 02:04:22.
Said Atkinson, who successfully defended the title he won last year: "I race in Asia five to six times a year, and the conditions here are similar to that in Beijing. With the Olympics in five weeks, the conditions in Singapore are excellent as a lead-up and today was a good test and warm up to the big day in August. It felt great to defend the title and certainly a boost towards my dream of a gold medal - it's one thing to go in believing that you can win, but I intend to make my dream a reality. Today's race is very good tactically for the up-and-coming Olympic triathletes, and an excellent opportunity for them to get a feel for what they will be up against in four years.”
A total of some 1,200 athletes competed in the Elite and Olympic-distance categories.
N.B. The Singapore International Triathlon is also referred to as the “osim triathlon”.
RESULTS
Olympic Distance - Elite Men (ITU)
1st – Courtney Atkinson, Australia (Swim: 00:21:43/bike: 00:59:51/run: 00:32:58/total: 01:54:31)
2nd – James Seear, Australia (00:23:18/00:58:19/00:35:19/01:56:46)
3rd – Joshua McHugh, Australia (00:23:22/00:58:14/00:35:39/01:57:14)
Olympic Distance - Elite Men (Under 23) (ITU)
1st – Wang Daqing, China (00:23:29/01:01:56/00:38:14/02:03:38)
2nd – Mok Ying Ren, Singapore (00:25:09/01:03:45/00:37:52/02:06:46)
3rd – Barry Lee, Malaysia (00:32:27/01:07:27/00:45:29/02:25:22)
Olympic Distance - Elite Women (ITU)
1st – Emma Moffatt, Australia (00:24:17/01:04:49/00:35:17/02:04:22)
2nd – Sarah Anne Crowley, Australia (00:28:01/01:05:47/00:37:23/02:11:11)
3rd – Sophie Hawken, Australia (00:29:01/01:11:24/00:49:59/02:30:22)
Olympic Distance - Elite Women (Under 23) (ITU)
1st – Dinah Chan, Singapore (00:32:43/01:09:32/00:44:02/02:26:16)
2nd – Jina Woo, Singapore (00:32:11/01:19:24/00:54:05/02:45:39)
REDpoll
Feel free to take part in the REDpoll. This is a cumulative poll which includes readers’ experience of this triathlon event over the years. Multiple answers are possible.
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Hey, we are missing out Victoria Cambell, Jeanette Wang, Sumiko Tan and even Joselin Yeo in the elite women race at the Osim Triathlon on Sunday morning. Since the full course was only open to elites which has such a small turnout number; especially the ladies, it could be more exciting to support and cheer our local sports women who could be given the privilege to race on uncongested course. Even some of the overseas elites were not performing too good with such good course while age group participants have to find space to swim, bike and run.
I think event organisers like Osim, SCM & Great Eastern have gone overboard in searching for elites to glorify their events. Participants are not rewarded for supporting their effort. No generous prizes for top ten or twenty runners as in REAL Run or Mizuno Wave but only pumping money to the overseas elites.
It is timely to exit from Osim, SCM, GE and divert our precious money and time to Aviva Half Ironmen race where it is value for money with unique goodie bag, tri-suit, etc.
Consolidate all the money from the small events and make it a big bang at the Aviva next year (not this year, cos still under-preparation for the bike).
Hope I would enjoy my fourth and final attempt at the SCM 2008. Also, I may not register for the GE run next year, after impulsively register online this year. Just too boring to see African sprinters, ex-commonwealth champ or even the regular ones like Vivien, Anne, Yong, etc.
It would be fresh to be with new faces from the international community who paid for their hefty fees at the AVIVA and I enjoy racing with very, very serious sports person.
Can’t wait for AVIVA 2009