Hong Kong triathlon hopeful Ng down to wire in race for last ticket to Olympics – South China Morning Post

Hong Kongs Olympic triathlon hopeful Jason Ng Tai-long remained ahead of his rival in the race for Paris, but only just, after failing to finish the Asia Cup event in Lianyungang, China on Saturday.

Ng was one of the three Hongkongers, alongside Robin Elg and Mark Yu Shing-him, with a DNF (Did Not Finish) next to his name, while Ayan Beisenbayev of Kazakhstan was just 26 seconds off the podium places, which were occupied by Chinese triathletes in Jiangsu province.

Beisenbayev and Ng are vying for the Games only new flag berth, reserved for the highest-ranked Asian nation or region not already represented in Paris. There is one race left for Beisenbayev to overtake the Hongkonger, on Beisenbayevs home territory next Saturday.

The China team gave us a lifeline by filling the podium, Hong Kong head coach Andrew Wright said. But next week it will mean the Kazakh has to get no points for us to qualify.

Its not the best day for the team, to be honest. We were visibly struggling, but as were all athletes who raced last weekend [in Taizhou].

Elg helped Ng during the cycling leg and did not run. Ng and Yu ran 5km before dropping out. Luke Schofield, of Australia, who triumphed last week in Zhejiang, did not even make it to the start line.

Teamwork could thwart Ng in Kazakhstan. Five of Beisenbayevs six teammates finished in the top 25 on Saturday, with Temirlan Temirov the best, in eighth.

Chinas Teng Yunfeng won the race in two hours, one minute and 18 seconds, with compatriots Ma Yunxiang and Fan Junjie second and third.

Hong Kongs Oscar Coggins, in his first official race since his abandoned Asian Games outing last September, finished 65 seconds behind Beisenbayev, in 2:04:36.

Coggins was good, he hasnt trained much and got an 11th place, Wright said. Its looking good for him going forward.

Entering the final race in Burabay, Ng is still ahead and his team know where they stand.

[Beisenbayev] needs a podium next weekend, Wright said. But we are only really in control of our squad.

So what we have to do is make the swim and bike as hard as possible and get Jason finishing as high as we can.

The Hong Kong team will stay in Jiangsu to recover until Tuesday, when they will travel to Xian to spend a night before heading to Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Optimising recovery is the most important objective between these events, Wright said. We have a physio travelling with the team. Other than that, its about doing the basics well. Nutrition, sleep and discipline.

Its equal pressure all round on both them and us, but I dont think the pressure will affect our performance.

In the womens event on Saturday, Hong Kongs Bailee Brown finished first in a field of only nine triathletes.

The 24-year-old clocked a time of 2:22:32 seconds, over four minutes ahead of Lu Meiyi of China and almost 10 minutes quicker than Lus compatriot Xu Xinyi.

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Hong Kong triathlon hopeful Ng down to wire in race for last ticket to Olympics - South China Morning Post