Matthew Justine Hermosa (7th from right), Renz Wynn Corbin (2nd from right), Nicole Marie Del Rosario (4th from left) and Roland Remolino (5th from left) are among the popular Cebuano TLTG-Go For Gold triathletes during the Go For Gold Sprint Triathlon in Panglao, Bohol. | Glendale Rosal
PANGLAO, Philippines— Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) gold medalist Matthew Justine Hermosa of the vaunted Talisay Luigi Triathlon Group (TLTG)-Go For Gold captured the overall top spot in the Go For Gold Sprint Triathlon race in Panglao Island, Bohol, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
The 18-year-old Hermosa of Talisay City, who recently bagged the gold medal in the 32nd SEA Games’ mixed aquathlon relay event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia clocked in one hour, one minute and 56 seconds.
He ruled the race that featured a 750m open-water swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run.
READ: Chicano, Burgos rule Panglao triathlon with race’s fastest overall finishes
Hermosa, Corbin, Quirino
Trailing Hermosa at second place was his teammate Renz Wynn Corbin who finished the race in 1:02.12, while Joseff Miguel Quirino completed the top three overall male finishers in 01:03.20.
Challenging, satisfying race
For Hermosa and Corbin, it was a challenging and satisfying race, considering they are preparing for a bigger race later this month in Singapore.
“Overall, satisfied ra sad mi sa among performances kay mahulog ni nga tune-up race namo before sa Singapore nga race. Usa pa, kinahanglan sad mi moperform og nindot kay kani nga race sa major sponsor baya ni namo,” said Hermosa.
(Overall, we are satisfied with our performances because this falls into our tune-up race before we go to the Singapore race. One thing also, we need to perform well because this race is our major sponsor.)
READ: Cebu SEAG medalists Remolino, Hermosa rule Seata Perak Triathlon in Malaysia
Opportunity to showcase potential
For his part, Corbin said that the race also provided him the opportunity to showcase his potential to follow the steps of Hermosa.
“Nindot ang lumba, challenging, pero overall, satisfied ra mi sa among gipakita considering kani nga race mao sad ang usa sa pinaka dako nga local races among giapilan this year,” said Corbin.
(The race was great, challenging, but overall, we are satisfied with what we showed considering this race is also the one of the biggest local races that we participated in this year.)
Nicole Marie Del Rosario
Meanwhile, Corbin and Hermosa’s teammate, Nicole Marie Del Rosario ruled the distaff side by crossing the finish line in 01:13.12.
Ellaiza Nicole Rojo trailed her at second place in 01:17.03, while Jamie Lynn Lacaya rounded off the top three female finishers in 01:28.28.
The TLTG-Go For Gold team fielded in a total of 11 young aspiring triathletes under the tutelage of veteran national triathlon coach Roland Remolino.
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