4 potential golds written off in Vietnam SEAG

THE Philippines is bound to lose four potential gold medals in triathlon and duathlon after 31st Southeast Asian Games host Vietnam scrapped both sports from its program.

But that didn’t come as a surprise to Tom Carrasco, president of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines.

“We expected this because Vietnam is not strong in triathlon and duathlon,” Carrasco said on Monday.

Vietnam announced last week its intention to Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino learned that Vietnam will host no more than 36 sports, far less than the 56 the Philippines’s program in the 30th edition last December.

And many of those sports scrapped from the previous edition were gold mines for the country’s successful campaign, netting 149 mints for the overall championship.

Carrasco said a host has the privilege to select sports it could dominate, a practice that has become a tradition in the SEA Games.

Also scrapped were arnis, obstacle course, skateboarding and modern pentathlon in the Vietnam Games set for November 21 to December 2 next year.

Arnis delivered 14 gold medals, obstacle course had six as well as skateboarding and pentathlon with two golds.

Filipino triathletes swept the men, women and mixed relay gold medals, extending their reign from 2015 when the sport debuted in Singapore. Duathlon, courtesy of Monica Torres, accounted for the fourth gold medal under the duathlon umbrella.

Tolentino vowed to lobby for sports Filipinos excel in during the SEA Games Federation virtual meeting on July 21.

Vietnam declared that it is cutting down its budget by 50 percent—because of the Covid-19 pandemic—for the Games that returns to Hanoi—the main hub—and Ho Chi Minh since the country hosted the Games for the first time in 2003.

Carrasco, meanwhile, said the association is coming to the aid of 2019 SEA Games silver medalist Kim Remolino, whose family’s house burned down in Talisay, Cebu, on Suday.

“TRAP and the national team members and coaches are donating cash assistance. [Also helping] are other members of the triathlon community,” Carrasco added.