Women’s triathlon Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

Japanese athlete Win Gold In 

Women’s triathlon

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta  

          

Japan added a gold medal through Yuko Takahashi in the 2018 Asian Games women's triathlon at the Jakabaring Sport City, Palembang, South Sumatra, on Friday.

Takahashi finished first with a time of 1:59:29, while silver was won by Mengying Zhong of China with a time difference of 1 minute 47 seconds. Bronze was obtained by Long Hoi from Macau,China with a time difference of 1 minute 59 seconds.

Athletes started by swimming two laps in an artificial lake in front of the Jakabaring Sport City shooting arena. Each lap is 750-meters, so each athlete swam 1.5-kilometers.

Then they cycled 40 Km, which was divided into six laps of 6.7 km each. The starting point and the finish line was located in front of the shooting arena.

Finally, the athletes had to run 10 km, which was divided into four laps. The route was within the Jakabaring Sport City complex.

Japan sent two athletes to the triathlon, Yuko Takahashi and Yuka Sato. Takahashi was dominant from the beginning of the race, continuously in the leading position. The 27-year-old athlete recorded 19 minutes and 2 seconds in swimming, 1:20:2 seconds in cycling, and 39 minutes and 1 second in running. Yuka Sato, another Japanese athlete, ranked second at end of the swimming phase before she was injured and had to quit on the fourth lap of the cycling.

Mengying Zhong from China initially kept pace with Yuka Sato. She was in second position during the transition from swimming to cycling, but slipped to eighth when she finished cycling’s sixth lap. However, Zhong finished second after powering through the 10 km run

Meanwhile, Long Hoi from Macau, China surprisingly finished third despite being in 10th position during the transition from cycling to running.

Asked about the key to her victory, Takahashi said it was her leading position during the cycling competition when she sped up to create a nearly 3-minute gap from the nearest competitor, so she could be more relaxed in the running competition.

She said she did not experience many difficulties when competing, but mentioned that the Friday race in Palembang was not as hot as when she won gold at the Asian Triathlon Championship in Palembang in 2017.

An official with the Japanese Triathlon Team, Toshiyuki Nakayama, said the strategy for Japan's victory was to place one of the athletes as a barrier to other contestants. Both athletes from the beginning were given the freedom to reach the leading position, but when one is superior, the other athlete will protect her from behind.

In the race, Yuka Sato practically acted as Takahashi's protector. Sato successfully performed her task when Takahashi widened the time gap from the pack of athletes.

Indonesian athlete Andi Ameera Cakravastia finished 17th with a time difference of 39 minutes 25 seconds from the winner.