CEBUANO triathlete Justin Chiongbian hopes to pull off a better finish when he takes part in the 2015 New Taipei ASTC Triathlon Asian Championships on June 12 in the New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei.
The 16-year-old Chiongbian, a member of the Philippine elite junior team for triathlon, will be racing in the junior men's elite division which features 750-meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run course and looks to improve his 13th place finish last year.
The former Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu stalwart will be up against a slew of formidable triathletes in the region coming from Japan, Korea, Thailand, China, Iran, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Hongkong, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.
“I have been preparing and working on all three disciplines for this race. I'm hoping that this race will be a good one,” Chiongbian told Sun.Star Cebu, who finished 13th place on his first try on the event.
“This is my second year for this race and my goal now is to get in the Top 5 or Top 10. I will at least do whatever it takes to get a good ranking,” he said.
Chiongbian said that he has been losing weight through the course of his training, and has tapered this week.
Chiongbian, who will be taking up Business Management at the London University in Singapore Institute of Management, will be leaving for Taipei on June 9.
Joining him in the men’s junior elite race are fellow Filipino junior triathletes Juan Carlos Abad, Julius Constantino, Edward Macalalad and Jimuel Patilan.