Story and photos by Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports
Wille Loo Chuan Rong (SIN) smiling as he appoaches the finishing line. (Photo 1 © Soh Jun Wei/Red Sports)
East Coast Park, Sunday, 7 June 2015 — Singaporean Wille Loo Chuan Rong finished third in the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games men’s triathlon with a timing of 2 hours 7 minutes 1 second.
Nikko Bryan Huelgas of the Philippines won the gold in 2:04:32 while Rikigoro Shinozuka of Malaysia was third in 2:05:35.
Wille, who was second out of the water, dropped to eighth place after the bike leg before recovering a few places during the run. He ran head-to-head with Thailand’s Thanongsak Manchai in third place for most of the run, and managed to pull away in the last lap.
“I think we came here as the underdogs and you could see that today was a fair fight through the entire race. The conditions were challenging,” said Wille about the race that was plagued with accidents and injuries.
“All the favourites were chasing the leader on the bike and when it came down to the run, we knew that it was going to be every man for himself. I knew some of our competitors were stronger than us, but we were here to fight for the medals,” said the bronze medallist.
“I think both of us were not looking so pretty when we got off the bike. And as teammates, when one goes down, the other one goes down also,” laughed Wille as he recounted his crash during the second lap of the bike leg.
Clement Chow Sheng Ren, Singapore’s other representative, placed fourth with a time of 2:07:30.
Results
1st Nikko Bryan Huelgas (PHI) – 2:04:32
2nd Rikigoro Shinozuka (MAS) – 2:05:35
3rd Wille Loo (SIN) – 2:07:01
4th Clement Chow (SIN) – 2:07:30
5th Thanongsak Manchai (THA) – 2:07:46
6th Jonard Saim (PHI) – 2:10:18
7th Lee Chein Wern (MAS) – 2:12:01
8th Wutthiwat Hemwet (THA) – 2:12:33
9th Picpiseth Neang (CAM) – DNF
10th Ye Wint Naing (MYA) – DNF
11th Kyaw Htet Aung (MYA) – DNF
12th Chandara Cheng (CAM) – DNF
More photos next page
Leave A Comment