Philippine Sports News and Updates

August Bendicto and Monica Torres won a bronze medal each in the recent 2010 Mekong River ITU Duathlon World Series in Nong Khai, Thailand.

Benedicto placed third behind two world class Russian duathletes in the men’s elite class while Torres duplicated the feat in the women’s division.

Benedicto negotiated the race in one hour 57 minutes and 37 seconds on splits of 33:53, 1:05:31 and 18:14.

Russia’s Sergey Yakolev, ranked No. 2 in the world, submitted a time of 1:51:14 to beat compatriot Nikolai Sukhoruchenkov (1:52:39) to win the race.

The Russians worked hand in hand in the first run and bike leg as they submitted identical splits of 31:45 and 1:02:20 before Yakolev pulled away in the final run for a 1:25-second lead against Sukhoruchenkov.

Benedicto's second run split was the second fastest among the men's elite class. He foiled the late charge of the world No. 14 Takashi Nakata of Japan to become the top finisher among Asian competitors.

Nakata placed fourth (1:59:02) beating Filipino Carlo Pedregosa by one second (1:59:03). Robeno Javier, another Filipino bet, finished sixth (1:59:51).

In the women’s division, Torres submitted a time of 2:12:39 to finish third behind Russian Evgeniya Sukhoruchekova (2:08:57) and world No. 1 Airi Sawada of Japan (2:09:43).

Torres, ranked fifth in the world and undisputed duathlon champion in the Philippines, had the fastest bike split among female competitors with 1:11:49 even though she was blocked by a bus midway in the course.

Former national athlete Edgardo Pedregosa coached Benedicto and Torres.

Benedicto and Torres’ impressive finish strengthened their chances to win a medal in the
2013 World Games in Cali Colombia where duathlon will be introduced as a demonstration sport.

The 2010 Mekong River ITU Duathlon World Series attracted 136 participants from 15 countries. The race followed a distance of 10k run, 40k bike and 5k run.

• GMANews.TV
• Philippine Sports Central