AFTER surgery, Cebu’s Youth Olympic Games (YOG) aspirant Justin Liam Chiongbian is gearing up for the Triathlon Association of the Philippines-Youth Olympic Games Performance Standard (TRAP-YPS) in February and March in Manila and in Baguio City.
This is in line with the country’s preparation for the 2014 Burabay ITU Triathlon Asian YOG Qualifier and Burabay ASTC Triathlon Junior Asian Championships on June 1 and 2 in Kazakhstan. The Philippines will be sending five YOG aspirants—Chiongbian, Jimuel Patilan, Jose Nobles, Magali Echauz and Victoria Deldeo.
The five, who qualified through the Trap YOG qualifiers in the country, will go through a series of trainings and tests. One of the tests will have the male triathletes finishing a one-kilometer swim under 12:59, while female triathletes need to complete it in 13:52 or less. The male triathletes will also have to complete a 5,000-meter run in under 16:30, while the two female triathletes will have a time limit of 19 minutes.
Elite training
The tests will be a daunting task for Chiongbian,15, of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, as he is still recuperating from a surgery after a bike crash last month injured his left wrist.
“Justin is back in training except biking out, so he’s training indoors,” said Millette, the athlete’s mother.
YOG coaching staff members Melvin Fausto and Anthony Lozada told Sun.Star Cebu they will determine who among the five YOG aspirants will undergo training at high-performance camps either in Portugal or in New Zealand, where they will be supervised by International Triathlon Union (ITU) certified coaches such as Sergio Santos.
It is an international program established by countries producing top triathletes in the ITU circuit. They believe that this will help in achieving their target, which is to compete at the YOG qualifying event at a high level this June.
The YOG is an international multi-sport event organized by the International Olympic Committee and is the highest level of competition for the youth.