The inaugural TRI-Factor (TF) World Championship 2019 in Quzhou, China was won by 12-time New Zealand IRONMAN champion Cameron Brown.
The TF Enduro (Elite) triathlon of 1.5km swim, 80km cycle and 20km run format was completed by Brown in 3:25:40, and taking home RMB10,000. Irishman Colin O’Shea took second place in 3:41:40 while Rondina Leonard of the Philippines took third position in 3:45:40.
TF Quzhou China is the season finale to the TRI-Factor Asia Series that included stopovers in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and China and 50 regional winners got a chance to compete in scenic Quzhou.
In total, 500 local and international participants from five continents competed over four race distance – the TF Enduro, Standard Distance (1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run), Sprint Distance (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run) and a Run-Bike-Run (2.5km run, 40km cycle, 5km run) under clear skies and cool conditions.
Chinese Taipei teenager Zhang Jiahao meanwhile showed why he is one of the rising talents in Asian triathlon by crushing the competition in the Standard Distance Men’s Elite. Zhang led from start to finish to win in a time of 1:58:26 while TRI-Factor Indonesia winner Ronald Setiawan (2:03:33) and American Micheal Cassinides (2:06:4) had to settle for second and third.
The TF Enduro Elite women’s title went to South Korean Hwang Jiho (4:16:29), while Malaysian Irene Chong (2:20:12) edged out China’s Yu Zhujin (2:20:39) for the Standard Distance Elite women’s crown.
TF brand ambassador and professional entertainer Adda Emmanuelle Maria Therese surprised many by finishing third in the Standard Distance Elite Women category and then proceeded to get athletes, volunteers and spectators singing and dancing with her when she performed the TF theme song Being Alive.
Held in perfect race conditions, the TF World Championship started and end at the iconic ShuiTing Gate which is part of the ancient city of Quzhou. The prefecture level city is one of the “top ten livable city in China” for two consecutive two years and is ranked fourth on the list of “China’s Happiest City”.
