Tricky conditions awaited the athletes at the Asia Cup in Subic Bay, Philippines, as the heat proved a major factor in both the men’s and women’s races. Although the event took place over the Sprint distance, energy conservation and heat management proved important, with both races coming down to tight finishes.
Men’s race
The front of the men’s swim had rather an Australian complexion as four Australian men occupied the top-5 slots. Jack Crome, a European Junior Cup winner in 2023, led the way in 8:57 while Christopher Deegan followed in 9:04. Amu Omuro, the 2023 Asian Junior champion, was the next man out.
Having bought time in the water, Crome was a little steadier than his rivals through T1. He therefore lost most of his 7 second advantage and exited transition with Deegan, Luke Bate and more snapping at his heels. In total, ten men came together at the front. Rory Thornhill was the fourth Australian to make the pack while three athletes from Japan were also in the mix. Alongside Omuro were Satoshi Iwamoto and Hokuto Obara.
The front and chase packs were fairly well balanced on the bike, with the chasers actually gaining a few seconds over the 20km. However, with over half a minute separating the two groups after the swim, the chasers’ chances of rallying were also faint.
Bate and Deegan promptly took control of the run. Deegan had been one of the faster runners at the Chengdu World Cup less than a week prior and so arrived in form. Bate, though, was clearly in no mood to mess around. While Thornhill and Crome fell back, Omuro tried to hang with the lead pair for as long as he could. Once the race entered its final stages, though, it was all about the two Australian rivals.
In the end, Bate had the superior finish and took the win by 7 seconds. After winning a silver medal at the African Cup in Maselspoort earlier in the year, Bate’s win was the first of his international career. Deegan held on for the silver medal while Omuro crossed 6 seconds later to claim the bronze.
Women’s race
Mikayla Messer jumped out into a big lead in the swim as she completed the 750m in 9:53. Only her compatriot Chloe Bateup (10:05) was able to remain relatively close to her while the next quickest women were at least 30 seconds back. A large cluster of women exited the water together, though, and created a big enough pack to soon run down Messer on the bike.
While Messer and Bateup rode at the front, they were joined by six other women, including Edda Hannesdottir, who was one week removed from her win at the Asia Cup in Pokhara. Having arrived in T1 with the pack of six that bridged to the leaders, Manami Hayashi, the 2023 Asian Junior champion, could not quite make it up to the front and settled into the chase pack.
Hye Rim Jeong of Korea had the best bike split as she rode among the lead pack of eight (31:39) and the pack decisively distanced the chasers.
Once onto the run, the lead group split in half. Bateup took the lead with Hannesdottir, Jeong and Martina Ayu Pratiwi of Indonesia. Messer’s good work early on was not sadly rewarded as she fell behind. Ayu Pratiwi was the first of the front quartet to fade and then Bateup began to slip back too.
In the final stages, it was a straight shoot-out between Jeong and Hannesdottir. As much as the Icelandic athlete pushed, her Korean rival had her number. Jeong therefore broke away to win by 10 seconds and denied Hannesdottir a second straight win. Nevertheless, Hannesdottir gained invaluable world ranking points with her silver medal that will aid her Olympic Universality quest.
Bateup then secured the bronze medal.
View the full results here.
