Men's triathlon Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

Japan Wins gold In Men's triathlon

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta            

Japan's dominance at the Asian Games triathlon continued with Jumpei Furuya winning gold in the men's triathlon at Jakabaring Sports City, Palembang, South Sumatra, on Saturday.

Furuya finished in a time of 1 hour 49 minutes 43 seconds. The silver medal was won by Ayan Beisenbayev of Kazakhstan, while China’s Mingxu Li claimed bronze.

Indonesia’s Muhammad Ahlul Firman finished in 13th place.

"I am very happy to win the gold medal because (2018 Asian Games) is an important championship for me," said Furuya.

The triathlon began with athletes swimming two laps in an artificial lake in front of Jakabaring Sports City’s shooting range.

Afterwards, they cycled for 40 kilometers, which was divided into six laps of 6.7 km each. The starting point and finish was located in front of the shooting range.

Finally, the athletes had to run 10 km, which was divided into four laps.

"The running session was very good for me. I was not good at running before, so my training program was more focused on the 10-km run," he said.

 Furuya added that he intentionally saved energy at the start of the race in the swimming session and began to increase his speed when he transitioned from swimming to cycling.

"My next target is the triathlon championship in Tokyo as preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I am targeting gold at the Olympics," he said.

This is Japan’s second triathlon gold medal after Yuko Takahashi won gold in the elite women's triathlon on Friday.