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Paul McNamara

Hong Kong’s triathletes were served an early warning over the scale of their Olympic qualifying task at an unusually competitive Asia Triathlon Cup in Malaysia on Saturday.
Bailee Brown came home fourth in a women’s race won by Lin Xinyu, the silver medallist from last year’s National Games and a top-30 finisher at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hilda Choi Yan-yin was 10th.
In the men’s event, Oscar Coggins had to settle for seventh despite delivering a quick closing run leg. He crossed 25 seconds behind first-placed Takuto Oshima, with Nicholas Tsang Cheung-sing the next Hongkonger home in 17th.
Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach, said the races had provided a “good hit out” for his athletes, as they returned to competitive action more than two months after the National Games.
“Bailee and Oscar both raced in line with expectation, if not a bit better,” Wright said. “The goal was to be competitive without any race-specific work beforehand, which they both achieved, so I’m very pleased with the results.”
An injury-disrupted 2025 has left Brown down at world No 220, while Coggins is No 141 on the men’s list after his focus on last year’s National Games cost him ranking points.

Consequently, Wright has tasked the pair with improving their standings to allow them to compete in Olympic qualification races, which begin in May this year.
Robin Elg and Jason Ng Tai-long, who both missed the race in Putrajaya because of injury, have the same challenge.
“This field was much stronger than in previous years, so it was a good indication of how competitive Olympic qualification is going to be for our athletes,” Wright said.
Coggins completed the 5km run in 15 minutes and 25 seconds, which was 31 seconds faster than he managed when coming second in the same race 12 months ago.
The 26-year-old was with the leading group throughout; swimming 750 metres in 9:41 and biking 20km in 27:13 for an overall time of 54:14.
Oshima finished in 53:49 to lead home a Japanese 1-2-3 in front of Kazushi Jozuka (54:00) and Genta Uchida (54:05).
Fan Junjie, so dominant when he won National Games gold in Hong Kong back in November, was 11th in 54:36.
After Tsang, who managed 55:48, the next city athletes to finish were Nick Yip Tak-long, Wong Nok-hei and Mark Yu Shing-him, who recently hit the headlines when his partner proposed to him on the finishing line of the Hong Kong 100 race, in 22nd, 25th and 35th, respectively.
Brown was part of the leading women’s group after strong swim and bike legs, but blistering runs separated Lin and Lu Meiyi from the pack; Lin ultimately breaking the tape in 1:00:44, just one second ahead of her fellow mainland China athlete.
Mako Hiraizumi of Japan was third in 1:01:11, with Brown five seconds back in 1:01:16. Choi performed well for two-thirds of the race, before falling away on the run.
“There was not enough speed work in her training programme,” said Wright, who will soon confirm selection criteria for this year’s Asian Games.
“Selection races should reflect the demands of the event you’re selecting for … if we want Asian Games medals, we have to choose events that are as good as that level,” Wright said.
He will take the majority of his squad to a one-month training camp in mainland province Yunnan around Lunar New Year, ahead of Haikou’s World Triathlon Cup leg on March 21.


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Bailee Brown, here in action during the National Games, finished fourth in Malaysia. Photo: Eugene Lee

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Hong Kong

Head coach satisfied with ‘good hit out’ to start year, but Putrajaya event serves as reminder over Los Angeles 2028 qualifying challenge


Head coach satisfied with ‘good hit out’ to start year, but Putrajaya event serves as reminder over Los Angeles 2028 qualifying challenge.


Hong Kong triathletes served early Olympic warning, as Bailee Brown hits form in Malaysia

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Head coach satisfied with ‘good hit out’ to start year, but Putrajaya event serves as reminder over Los Angeles 2028 qualifying challenge

Head coach satisfied with ‘good hit out’ to start year, but Putrajaya event serves as reminder over Los Angeles 2028 qualifying challenge