Hong Kong triathletes served early Olympic warning, as Bailee Brown hits form in Malaysia
Head coach satisfied with ‘good hit out’ to start year, but Putrajaya event serves as reminder over Los Angeles 2028 qualifying challenge
Hong Kong’s triathletes were served an early warning over the scale of their Olympic qualifying task at an unusually competitive Asia Triathlon Cup in Malaysia on Saturday.
Bailee Brown came home fourth in a women’s race won by Lin Xinyu, the silver medallist from last year’s National Games and a top-30 finisher at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hilda Choi Yan-yin was 10th.
In the men’s event, Oscar Coggins had to settle for seventh despite delivering a quick closing run leg. He crossed 25 seconds behind first-placed Takuto Oshima, with Nicholas Tsang Cheung-sing the next Hongkonger home in 17th.
Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach, said the races had provided a “good hit out” for his athletes, as they returned to competitive action more than two months after the National Games.
“Bailee and Oscar both raced in line with expectation, if not a bit better,” Wright said. “The goal was to be competitive without any race-specific work beforehand, which they both achieved, so I’m very pleased with the results.”
An injury-disrupted 2025 has left Brown down at world No 220, while Coggins is No 141 on the men’s list after his focus on last year’s National Games cost him ranking points.