Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong’s second Olympic triathlete Oscar Coggins readies for ‘hardest 30 minutes of my life’

The 20-year-old will follow in Daniel Lee Chi-wo’s footsteps in July when he competes at the Games

Coggins is ‘pretty comfortable’ with expected blazing heat in Tokyo – ‘If anything, that works in my favour’

Reading Time:3 minutes

Oscar Coggins will become Hong Kong’s first triathlete to compete in the Olympics since Daniel Lee Chi-wo at Beijing 2008. Photo: May Tse

Published: 11:15am, 30 Jun 2021Updated: 10:53pm, 30 Jun 2021

Oscar Coggins is getting ready for the battle of his life on July 26. That’s the day the Hongkonger will line up against 54 of the top triathletes in the world at the Tokyo Olympics.

Coggins is expecting the start of the swim, known for being notoriously frantic, to be even more so given it is the Olympics.

“It’s going to be the hardest 30 minutes of my life,” said the 20-year-old of the swim leg. “There are a lot of athletes who are very invested in making this a very, very difficult race.”

The swim consists of two 750-metre laps, starting on a pontoon in Odaiba Marine Park and heading into Tokyo Bay towards Bird Island. Scaled down from traditional triathlon lengths to make the sport more fan-friendly, the race will feature a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike ride, followed by a 10km run. Most elite men will finish the race in well under two hours.

Hong Kong triathlete Oscar Coggins said he is primed for his first Olympics. Photo: Handout

Coggins, who is ranked 47th in the world, said he is expecting to be on turbocharge from the sound of the gun.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x