Six HK triathletes making tracks to Asian Games

Six Hong Kong triathlon athletes will represent the SAR in the Hangzhou Asian Games next month.

Formed by three men and three women - Oscar Coggins, Jason Hardcastle, Wong Tsz-to, Bailee Brown, Charlotte Hall and Hilda Choi Yan-yin, the team will compete in three triathlon events: men's individual, women's individual and mixed team relay.

The multisport race requires athletes to swim, cycle and run. Athletes have to race against time to complete the course with utmost speed and precision.

The athletes are all excited and have confidence in their performance and teammates.

It will be the second time for Brown to represent Hong Kong at the Asian Games. She believes the team is well-prepared for the event with training and strong bonding between teammates.

"We have all grown together through the years and it is nice that we can come together as a team, representing Hong Kong in this coming Asian Games," she said.

To prepare for the Games, the team spent one month in a training camp in Spain. They will also have a race with the Chinese team this week, followed by another month of training in Phuket, Thailand, before the Asian Games kick-off.

The Hong Kong Sports Institute's triathlon head coach Andrew Wright described the training in Spain as the "best training camp" they had as athletes faced zero distraction from family and school work in a foreign country.

He believes the squad is the best team Hong Kong has ever put together, saying they are prepared to face the upcoming races.

"I hope they can execute their skills without pressure. It is unhelpful to predict their positions," Wright said.

Hardcastle, who will attend the Asian Games for the first time, said his aims to make no mistake and perform with all his skills.

The 23-year-old hopes to showcase the results of high-volume training in Spain in the upcoming event. They underwent six hours of training a day with intensity higher than theirs in Hong Kong.

The triathlon course this year includes a lot of up- and down-slopes. Choi, representing Hong Kong for the second time, believes the training in Spain has prepared them for such tracks.

"We climbed a lot in Spain to train our muscle endurance and explosive strength. In Hong Kong, we went to Kam Shan, where upslopes and downslopes are abundant, so we could optimize our distance sense in all settings," she said.

Being one of the most experienced members of the team, Choi is proud of representing the city.

"On the map, other countries are large and Hong Kong is only a tiny dot. Despite this, Hong Kong is capable of competing with Asia," she said.

"I think this is because of the spirit of perseverance that HongKongers have and such a spirit is rooted in our team."

The upcoming Games were originally scheduled for September 2022 but has been postponed to this year due to Covid-19. It will be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.