Remolino fails to finish Olympic triathlon qualifier in Japan
Cebuano Andrew Kim Remolino is shown preparing his gear at the transition area before the start of the 2021 Asian Triathlon Championships in Hatsukaichi, Japan. | Photo from the Triathlon Assoc. of the Philippines FB page.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano Andrew Kim Remolino, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) triathlon silver medalist, vowed to bounce back in future Olympic qualifying races after failing to finish the 2021 Asia Triathlon Championships in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan this morning, April 24, 2021.
Remolino in his Facebook post expressed remorse that he failed to complete the race which was an Olympic qualifier.
The 21-year old Talisay City native explained that he was doing very well in the initial stages of the swim leg when he felt his arm froze due to the cold temperature.
“Just wanted to apologize to all the people that I disappointed. Was feeling good on the first few meters on the swim but suddenly my arms froze because of the temperature of the water,” said Remolino in his Facebook post.
Although he concluded the swim leg and managed to cross the transition area, he was ultimately stopped by race officials in the bike leg after he was lapped by other competitors.
He finished the 1.5-kilometer swim in 20 minutes and 42 seconds.
Remolino said he expected the race to be doubly difficult for him as he was not able to train regularly due to the COVID-19 restrictions in Cebu during the past months.
“But still I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me especially to my family, Go for Gold, TRAP, PSC, POC, and all the coaching staff. Despite this bad performance of mine I just want to say to everyone that I promise that I’ll bounce back right away and keep on improving myself and be better on this sport,” said Remolino.
His father, Roland explained that Kim is not used to wearing wet suits in triathlons. He also revealed that he borrowed a wet suit from Kim Mangrobang which was smaller for his son’s size.
“Sayang kaayo wala siya maanad ug sul-ob sa wet suit pag race, unya iya pod pag sul-ob hinuwaman man to kang Kim Mangrobang nya huot so nag lisud siya ug swim. Naka bike pa man siya pero na lapan na siya mao gipa stop na sila,” said Roland.
He added that his son apologized to him for not completing the race, but he just told him to hold his head up and bounce back in his next races.
Remolino’s teammate Fernando Casares finished 13th in the Men’s Elite in one hour, 57 minutes, and 40 seconds.
The Men’s Elite top three places all went to Japanese racers Nener Kenji (01:48.59), Hojo Takumi (01:50.00), and Furuya Jumpei (01:50.29), respectively.
The 29-year old Mangrobang, meanwhile, finished 11th in the Women’s Elite in 02:16.57.
China’s Zhong Mengying topped the distaff side in 02:08.10 with Japanese Sato Yuka (02:10.32), and compatriot Ueda Ai (02:10.37) grabbing the second and third places, respectively. /rcg
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