Blocking of junior athletes under fire from former Hong Kong triathlete

The Hong Kong Triathlon Association, fighting to retain elite status at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, has been accused of neglecting four leading junior athletes after they were barred from competing in the Hong Kong ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup at Disneyland this weekend.

Triathlon failed to medal at the Asian Games in Incheon last month and will be kicked out of the HKSI in April unless it wins a late reprieve.

With its future as an elite sport in doubt, the bickering between the governing body and former athlete Andrew Wright reached a new level with the latter calling for the association to change its "outdated" selection criteria for major events.

Wright, who now coaches athletes privately, has blasted the association after four of his top juniors - Miles Williams, Reiny Brown, Henry Warren and James Tan - were refused permission to take part in the Asian Cup. They had all recently resigned from the national squad.

"With the [impending] loss of triathlon's elite status, due to lack of results over the last four years, athletes like these should be a focus for the future of the sport," said Wright, who four years ago won triathlon an extension at the HKSI when his eighth-placed finish at the Guangzhou Asian Games was enough to maintain its funding.

"It is easy to see that blocking athletes from racing in an already diminished sport is one of the major reasons for losing the elite status to begin with," Wright said.

"All four have raced for Hong Kong before in an ITU event and have been within the top 10 positions internationally, showing they are more than capable of racing at this level. All are in top form to compete in this event and eligible to race for Hong Kong."