Triam Set Two-gold Target For Korat

The Triathlon Association of Malaysia (Triam) hope to deliver at least two gold medals at the 24th SEA Games in Korat which officially begins on Dec 6.

For the first time in the SEA Games history, both triathlon and duathlon are included in the programme.Triam will be banking on eight athletes -- four men and four women -- to deliver the desired medals."Our target is to win six medals. But our promise to OCM (Olympic Council of Malaysia) is to deliver two gold medals," said Triathlon SEA Games team manager Peter Lau after handing over jerseys to the triathletes at Nestle House, here today.

At the function, PowerBar, the main sponsor for the Malaysian triathletes, handed out the latest hi-tech suits worth RM850 to each athlete."PowerBar hopes the suits will help improve the performance of our triathletes," said Lau. He said although the athletes to Korat were selected based on their current performance in various national and international championships, aspects like discipline and behaviour of the individuals were also taken into account.

For this year's SEA Games, Shahrom Abdullah, Heidilee Mohamad, Mariana Mohamad and Stephanie Chok will be vying for glory in the duathlon, while seasoned campaigners Muhammad Razani Husain, Wei Kuo Hau (men), Kimberly Yap and rookie Ooi Chiew Wei (women) are heading the charge in triathlon.Four of the triathletes -- Kimberly (triathlon), Shahrom, Heidilee and Mariana (dualthlon) -- will be going to the SEA Games under Category A while the rest are in Category B."The expenses of those under category B are sponsored by Tsurumi Pump (M) Sdn Bhd but if they win a gold or silver, their expenses will be reimbursed by OCM," he said.

At the last SEA Games in Manila, Malaysia won a gold through Kimberly in the women's event and a silver through Loh Yeong Shang in the men's."We hope Kimberly will retain her gold medal while the men will rise to the occasion. We know that Singapore are strong in the triathlon while the Filipinos are title contenders in duathlon," said Lau.

Duathlon will be held on Dec 8 and the triathlon on Dec 9 at the Ambassador City Jomtien, Pattaya.-- BERNAMA