The ASTC - ITU Development Camp was held February 6-11 in Guwahati, India to prepare South Asian athletes for the triathlon debut in the 12th South Asian Games.
16 athletes from 3 different countries including: India, Nepal and Sri Lanka joined the training camp. The purpose of the camp was to enhance athletes’ development from the South Asian region and increase participants in the South Asian Games.
Training sessions were aimed at developing triathlon specific techniques, tapper and race strategies for the upcoming South Asian Games Triathlon & Mixed Relay.
“The South Asian region is confronting many challenges such as limited training facilities, no safe roads for biking and not enough funding. However, the debut of the South Asian Games could be a game changer for our sport development in this region because NOCs in the region will realise the values of our sport through the Games and invest more into our sport development.” said Ki, WooKyong, ASTC Sport Development Coordinator.
“It is my great honor to help young athletes and coaches from the South Asian region. It is not easy to train in the emerging countries without proper training infrastructure. But I can feel the passion in participating coaches and athletes. I think we need to provide them with more learning opportunities for sustainable development.” said Vicent Beltran, ITU expert.
The introduction of the camp guaranteed a successful South Asian Games that occurred over the weekend. Medals were awarded for the elite men’s and women’s races along with the Mmixed relay multisport category.
In the men’s race, the gold was awarded to Dilip Kumar of India by a lead of over two minutes. Silver was given to Indian countryman Gurudatta Devidas Gharat and the bronze to Nuwan Kumara (SRI). The women’s field gold medallist went to Pallavi Retiwala, granting another victory for India. The podium was then finished off by Pooja Chaurushi (IND) with the silver and Nepal’s Roja K.c. for the bronze.
In the mixed relay competition India once again seized the gold, with Nepal finishing second and Sri Lanka taking third.