INCHEON, Korea — Daniel Caluag gave the country its first gold medal in the 17th Asian Games.
Caluag met expectations on Wednesday when he ruled the men’s BMX race at the Ganghwa Asiad BMX Track, 52 kilometers northeast of the Athletes Village, to end the Philippines' gold medal drought in this year’s edition of the Asiad.
Despite not racing in a single UCI-sanctioned events this year as he focused on his studies, the London Olympian maintained his excellent form for the Asiad.
Caluag timed 35.277 seconds in the first run to finish first before topping the second run with a clocking of 35.366 seconds. He finished the race with a bang with a time of 35.431 seconds in the third and final run.
The 2012 Olympian set the stage for the gold medal when he finished first in the seeding run with a time of 35.486 seconds.
Masahiro Sampei of Japan took the silver medal with seven points while Zhu Yan of China settled for the bronze medal in the eight-man field with 10.
Daniel’s brother CJ barely missed a podium finish by placing fourth with 12 points.
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