SEA Games

Phạm Tiến Sản holds the national flag after winning gold in the men's duathlon. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Phạm Tiến Sản defended his title in the men’s duathlon event at the 32nd SEA Games on the morning of May 7 in Kep Province, Cambodia.

Athletes competed in three stages; 5km running, 20km biking and 2.5km running, half the distance of other SEA Games.

Sản and Hà Văn Nhật were the two Vietnamese representatives among 13 competitors.

Running is Sản’s strong point, as he was a three-time silver medallist at the SEA Games in 2013, 2015 and 2017 before switching to duathlon three years ago. Despite his lack of experience, Sản successfully passed all competitive rivals to win the title last year in Quảng Ninh Province, Việt Nam.

On May 7, Sản suffered a bike puncture just 10 minutes before the race. His technical crew had to rush in to fix the problem.

Sản met no difficulty in taking the lead, followed by teammate Nhật after the first stage, taking 16.41min in the running.

As his cycling ability needs improvement, as he freely admits, Sản was caught up in the 20km biking and left behind by six athletes at the second transition.

John Leerams Chicano of the Philippines was the fastest with a time of 29.06min. Sản was in seventh on 29.16min.

But back to running, Sản proved the best. He quickly took the lead again and finished first with a time of 7.57mins, winning gold with a total time of 54.37.

Sokha Mickael Chaumond, a naturalised Cambodian athlete, took silver with 54.41, followed by Sedilta Pilon Nubatonis of Indonesia with 54.45.

Nhật, in his first time at the regional sports meet, was seventh with a time of 55.58min. 

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trinh hugs her coach after reaching new heights in the duathlon.

In the women’s class, Nguyễn Thị Phương Trinh won a silver, a new height in her career.

Trinh was the first Vietnamese athlete to win a medal in this tough sport. She secured a bronze in the 2019 Games in the Philippines.

This year, Trinh finished second with a time of 1:05.12.

The winner was Filipino Marion Kim Exconde Mangrobang spending 1:04.23.

Maharani Azhri Wahyuningtyas of Indonesia took bronze with 1:06.14.

“We highly praise their efforts to grab high results at the SEA Games," said Nguyễn Thu Phương, manager of the triathlon team in the SEA Games. "Their achievement shows that we have talented athletes in duathlon.”

In other sports, the vovinam team took two silvers in performance events for the men’s duo and mixed team.

Pencak silat martial artists secured two bronzes in the men’s and women’s tunggal (individual performance) thanks to Phạm Hải Tiến and Vương Thị Bình, respectively. VNS