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Paul McNamara

After taking a “step in the right direction” in the National Games individual races, Hong Kong’s triathletes have targeted a significant leap forward in the mixed relay on Sunday.
In a “brutal” men’s event, Oscar Coggins claimed a redemptive bronze, the first major Games medal of his career.
Running on empty towards the end, Robin Elg eased off to conserve energy for the relay. Wong Tsz-to was 18th, as an unforgiving sun and exacting course left 20 of the 48 starters unable to finish.
Earlier on Saturday, Cade Wright was fourth in the women’s race, as only 16 of the 40-strong field survived the Central Harbourfront challenge. One of those, Hilda Choi Yan-yin, was disqualified soon after crossing the line for an in-race infringement.

Already detached from the lead group, Bailee Brown’s hopes expired when a staple punctured one of her tyres on the bike leg.
“She was very smart; rather than go hard to the wheel station and potentially crash, she decided to save herself for the relay,” Andrew Wright, the head coach, said. “Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”
Huang Anqi of the China Public Security Sports Association won the women’s race in one hour, 59 minutes and 16 seconds. Men’s honours went to Henan’s imperious Fan Junjie in 1:47.47.
Wright said his emotions following the medal for Tokyo Olympian Coggins were evenly split between joy and relief.
“There was more pressure than for an Olympics or Asian Games, because the expectation was higher,” Wright said.
“It cost so much to put this on; so much effort has gone into it. The athletes and I had to do our part to show we’re competitive and our programme will be successful.
“Today was a step in the right direction.”
Coggins and Elg executed the pre-race plan of starting quickly to cut adrift a large rump of the field.
Nevertheless, Wright said he was “a bit worried” that his star pair had five rivals in the front group.
“I know the calibre of the run from those athletes,” he said. “But the boys kept attacking on the bike and they tore the legs off some of the guys for the run.”
An unhappy soul when he withdrew from the individual Asian Games race in 2023, the revitalised Coggins held firm on the run as other contenders ran out of gas.
“I’m super-happy – we executed our plan really well; we were aggressive in making it only a small group of athletes competing for medals out of the swim,” said Coggins, adding that the “amazing” home support had dragged him around a “really hard last run lap”.
Coggins, who finished in 1:49.21, 57 seconds behind Liaoning’s Chen Qi in second, had Elg on his tail for the opening two 2.5km (1.55-mile) run laps, but paid no attention to the identity of his nearest rival. The race was tough enough already.
He was aiming for another “hard and aggressive” start to the relay. “Only Hong Kong and Shandong had two athletes in the front pack,” Coggins said. “We showed we’re a very strong team today.”

Wright felt Elg would have finished fourth had he not listened to instructions to back off once his podium chance had gone.
Acknowledging he was “completely flat” as he spoke shortly after finishing, the visibly shattered Elg said: “It was a brutal race. The first two [run] laps, I was on Oscar’s heels; on the third, I knew he was having a better day than me.
“I expected to fight for the podium. I have no excuses. The guys in front of me did an insane job.”
Elg said two years of working on how to recover in time for relays would equip him for Sunday.
“We’re a hard team to beat and we need to expect nothing less than gold,” he said.


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Hong Kong triathletes hungry for more National Games joy after Oscar Coggins’ bronze

Oscar Coggins (left) and coach Andrew Wright on the triathlon podium after Saturday’s individual race. Photo: Eugene Lee

Hong Kong’s Robin Elg is exhausted at the end of Saturday’s race. Photo: Eugene Lee

Hong Kong’s triathletes aimed to start aggressively to cut adrift some of their rivals. Photo: Eugene Lee

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Julien Bourron dives over for Hong Kong’s pivotal third try. Photo: Sam Tsang

Harry Sayers makes a grab for the ball during Hong Kong’s final success. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong serves during his match against Shanxi’s Duan Hao. Photo: Eugene Lee

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Sport

Hong Kong

City quartet aiming high for mixed relay on Sunday, after Olympian Coggins claims first major Games medal


City quartet aiming high for mixed relay on Sunday, after Olympian Coggins claims first major Games medal.


Hong Kong triathletes hungry for more National Games joy after Oscar Coggins’ bronze

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}City quartet aiming high for mixed relay on Sunday, after Olympian Coggins claims first major Games medal

City quartet aiming high for mixed relay on Sunday, after Olympian Coggins claims first major Games medal