By MARK REY MONTEJO
Kira Ellis made heads turn after winning the gold medal in the Junior Women’s category of the 2024 Asia Triathlon Junior Cup Kampar in Malaysia Saturday, July 13.
The 18-year-old Ellis crossed the line in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 32 seconds to reign supreme in her event that featured a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. She beat 31 other elite junior rivals, including Filipinas Samantha Corpuz,(1:08:02), Adrian Ungos (1:18:53), Candace Socito (1:25:54) and Maria Celinda Raagas (1:25:54).
Corpuz came up short for the podium as she settled for fourth while Ungos finished 22nd. Socito and Raagas settled for 25th and 26th, respectively.
South Korea’s Seoeun Park took the silver after clocking 1:07:42 while Uzbekistan’s Diana Biktimirova (1:07:45) settled for the bronze.
Previously, Ellis, who is being groomed to participate in the Los Angeles Games in 2028, competed in the Euro Junior Cup where she ended up at the 16th spot.
Up next for Ellis is this year’s World Youth Championships which will be held in Spain in October.
In the Junior Men’s side, Dayshaun Ramos timed in 59 minutes and 41 seconds to place eighth, while Juan Miguel Tayag (1:00:10), Darell Bada (1:00:44), Jose Tayag (1:01:06) and Matthew Hermosa (1:01:37) finished 12th, 15th, 21st, and 24th places, respectively.
Hong Kong’s Ka Ho Wong ruled the event as he registered 58:48, followed by silver medalist Kazakhstan’s Kuanysh Bekenov (59:01) and another Hong Kong bet Pak Yiu Anson (59:15).
