Japanese triathletes post one-two finish in Asian Games

Japanese triathletes post one-two finish in Asian Games
Mariko Adachi and Akane Tsuchihashi finished first and second in the women's triathlon event in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou on Saturday.
Adachi, who finished ninth in this year's ITU World Championships Series, finished the swim-bike-run event with a time of two hours, five minutes and 44.59 seconds to give her nation its first gold medal of the Games.
The 27-year-old crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of Tsuchihashi, who clocked 2:06:31.56.  South Korean Jang Yun-jung claimed the bronze medal with a time of 2:07:52.50.
"I had planned to go for it in running. I have tried to fight it out in running throughout the season. So I had no fear," Adachi said.
"I was a bit anxious before coming here and it was not a gold medal which I won all by myself."
Adachi said she was inspired by compatriot Juri Ide’s fifth-place finish at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She said that her victory in Guangzhou boosted her quest for a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Adachi also gave credit to Tsuchihashi for her victory.
"I was helped by my team-mate Tsuchihashi and I want to thank all of my supporters for this," the Osaka native said.
Tsuchihashi admitted that she was disappointed to miss out on the gold but was happy with her team-mate's victory.
"She (Adachi) is a model who I respect and want to follow. I want to compete with her again in the future and do a better job," Tsuchihashi said.
Adachi and Tsuchihashi led after the swim leg but the two lost their lead after the bike leg. The two Japanese, however, regained their composure in the run leg to post a one-two finish.
The duo's feat surpassed the silver and bronze medal finish of Ai Ueda and Akiko Sekine four years ago in Doha.
Jang, who took the lead heading into the run, lost steam in the final leg but still managed to cling on to third spot.
She finished ahead of Macau's Hoi Long, who clocked 2:08:21.37. Local bet Fan Dan finished fifth with a time of 2:08:47.74. It was a disappointing result for the Chinese, who was ranked second after the bike leg. Another Chinese Liu Ting (2:09:15.11) placed sixth.
Rounding out the top ten are South Korea's Hong Dan-bi (2:10:43.46), Kazakhs Yekaterina Shatnaya (2:15.33.29) and Karolina Solovyova (2:20:47.88) and India's Pooja Chaurshi (2:31.07.10).
Meanwhile, the men's competition will take place tomorrow.