SUBIC, Zambales — Rambo Chicano aims to win the country’s first gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games triathlon competition at Subic Bay Boradwalk on Sunday.
The 28-year old Olongapo City native, whose battle starts at 6 is looking to claim his first gold in the biennial meet after a second-place finish to Nikko Huelgas in 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Chicano will represent the Philippines along with Andrew Kim Remolino in the men’s division.
“‘Yung feeling na nire-represent mo ‘yung bansa sobrang sarap sa pakiramdam lalong lalo na kung nananalo ka para sa bayan mo,” said Chicano.
In the women’s division, 2017 gold medalist Kim Mangrobang has her eyes on the prize as she guns for a back-to-back gold medal finish.
For the past four years, Mangrobang trained at Rio Maior Desmor, a high performance sports center in Portugal, for the 30th SEA Games, as well as qualifying races for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Kim Kilgroe will also join Mangrobang in the country’s quest to repeat the 1-2 finishes by the Philippines.
Although the Philippines’ bet have the home advantage, Chicano is not taking their opponents lightly.
“Andyan pa rin ‘yung Singapore eh, malakas pa rin ‘yung lineup nila ngayon eh. Tinitignan din namin ‘yung Malaysia and Vietnam kasi malakas daw ‘yung swimmer nila so tignan natin,” said Chicano. “Pero gold pa rin ang target natin.”
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