A quieter weekend of international triathlon was brought to life by blockbuster action in the Philippines, with talent from Central Asia in particular serving up impressive performances. Find out all the latest in the sport with this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Subic Bay Asia Cup
With an eye on a looming home WTCS race in Yokohama, Manami Hayashi (JPN) showed fine form to win the Subic Bay Asia Cup, relegating her younger sister Ayame into 2nd place. Margot Garabedian (CAM) was the first athlete to complete the 750m swim (10:58), while Hayashi emerged 2 seconds back.
Despite their early control of the race, Hayashi and Garabedian found themselves on the back foot by the time T2 came around as Hinaku Masuda (JPN) led a front pack away thanks to a 31:25 bike split. By comparison, Hayashi’s bike split stood at 32:58 after only swimming 24 seconds faster than her compatriot.
The 5km run duly proved long enough for Hayashi to turn things around. Her 17:19 split was the best of the day and was only really pushed by Ayame Hayashi’s 17:30 effort. Meanwhile, Sinem Francisca Tous Servera (TUR) was another of the Hayashi pack to run down the front group. She overhauled the leading breakaway athlete, Hye Rim Jeong (KOR), to take the final spot on the podium.
In the men’s race, Liam Donnelly (CAN) opened his season with a win, having ended 2025 with another Continental Cup victory on the other side of the world. Takuto Oshima (JPN), already an Asia Cup race winner this year, threatened to take total control of the race out of the water. Only a select group of men kept close to his 10:19 swim split; Donnelly was not among them, losing 29 seconds.
However, Oshima’s efforts did not result in a sustained breakaway and a large chunk of the field came together. Donnelly made this group, as did the day’s top cyclist, Kazakhstan’s Daryn Konysbayev (29:18 for 20km). Come the final discipline, Oshima and Konysbayev were in the hunt for gold, but Donnelly’s field-leading run split (14:40) secured the win by 12 seconds. Konysbayev was the next man home while Oshima placed 3rd. View the full results here.
Subic Bay Asia Junior Cup
Further hardware for the Kazakhstan team came in the junior races as Alua Nurmuhamet (KAZ) and Ramazan Ainegov (KAZ) claimed the gold medals. In a small field, Nurmuhamet was never more than a second off the front. She was the second athlete out of the swim and then rode at the head of the race.
She never fully escaped the attentions of her rivals, though, foremost amongst whom was her teammate Kaleriya Shneider (KAZ). After a duel over the 5km run, Nurmuhamet managed to overcome Shneider by a mere 6 seconds. Bronze then went to Anisha Eunice Caluya of the home Philippines team.
Ainegov’s victory was rather more comprehensive. 61 seconds separated him from silver medallist Cooper Smeulders (AUS) at the finish line after hunting down swim leader Taeil Jun (KOR) in a small pack of four. Ainegov would take the top bike split for his efforts. It was on the run that he really separated himself as his 17:28 split blew away Jun and the rest of Ainegov’s fellow chasers. For his part, Jun held on to take the bronze medal. View the full results here.