SEA Games Women’s Elite Triathlon Preview: Mangrobang Poised to Repeat for Gold

By Wires November 29, 2019

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There is no denying that Kim Mangrobang of the Philippines is at a different level when it comes to elite women triathlon in Southeast Asia. Her 2:11:14 golden winning time in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games was 7 minutes and 44 seconds clear of 2nd and a whopping 14 minutes and 30 seconds from third.

Mangrobang biggest threat for gold could be her fellow teammate in the Philippines, Kim Kilgroe. In last year’s Asian games in Palembang, the Kims both landed in the top 10; Mangrobang finishing at 7th and Kilgroe at 9th and were 1 minute 37 seconds apart. That was an impressive showing by both contenders from the Philippines who battled the triathletes from Asian powerhouses like China, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.

Looking at the Startlist for this year’s event, only the pair from the Philippines competed at the Palembang games.

ATHLETE FIRST	ATHLETE LAST	NATIONALITY	START NUMBER
Marion Kim	Mangrobang	PHI	31
Kim	Kilgroe	PHI	32
Ethel	Lin	SGP	33
Aimi Iwasaki	Muhammad	MAS	34
Nethavani	Octaria	INA	35
Shuwen	Chang	SGP	36
Chen Yin	Yang	MAS	37
Thi Kim Tuyen	Nguyen	VIE	38
Thipsuda	Kammee	THA	39
Thuy Vi	Pham	VIE	40

Here is a recent result from the 2019 Subic Bay ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup which included elite triathletes from Singapore and Thailand.

ATHLETE FIRST	ATHLETE LAST	NATIONALITY	POSITION	TOTAL TIME
Kim	Kilgroe	PHI	12	02:10:10
Zhiyun	Lin	SGP	20	02:27:58
Shuwen	Chang	SGP	24	02:40:09
Thipsuda	Kammee	THA	25	02:48:59

Kim Mangrobang is the most experienced and highest ranked in terms of ITU World Ranking at 104 with 58 starts, 7 podiums and 2 wins. Kim Kilgroe is at 176 ITU world Ranking with 31 starts , 2 podiums and 1 win. In terms of experience in ITU racing circuit, Ethel Lin of Singapore has 17 starts, Shuwen Chang (SGP) and Chen yin Yang (MAS) with 9 starts, and Thipsuda Kammee with 5 starts.