Philstar.com
August 12, 2025 | 11:05am
MANILA, Philippines — Japanese athletes stamped their class in dominant style on the IRONMAN 70.3 Lapu-Lapu at Mactan Newtown in Cebu final Sunday, sweeping a number of age group titles and clinching each total championships within the males’s and girls’s divisions.
Native standouts Kristiane Lim and Khimberly Paquibot ensured the Filipino flag remained proudly represented within the occasion, introduced by Megaworld and Mactan Newtown, at the same time as Australian Josh Ferris and New Zealand’s Amelia Watkinson captured the highlight by profitable the premier professional division titles — cheered on by a energetic crowd that included enthusiastic schoolchildren.
Ryosuke Ohata spearheaded Japan’s cost with an outstanding all-around efficiency, outduelling compatriot Yuki Umeda in an exciting all-Japanese showdown within the premier endurance race organized by Dawn Occasions, Inc. After splitting the highest positions within the swim and bike legs of the grueling 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run race, Ohata unleashed a blistering 1:28:08 run cut up to grab the general age-group title in a formidable 4:26:30.
Umeda, who led out of the swim however light barely on the bike, clocked 1:36:06 within the run and settled for second total. Native standout Mervin Santiago accomplished the rostrum in 4:34:59.
Ohata’s victory wasn’t simply total — he additionally bagged the 40-44 age group crown, once more edging Umeda, with Markus Goldinger taking third in 4:39:24. It marked a powerful rebound for Ohata, who solely completed fifth within the IRONMAN 70.3 Puerto Princesa earlier this yr.
To not be outdone, Mayo Onishi accomplished a “double-double” for Japan, ruling each the ladies’s total and the 35–39 age group. Onishi customary out a wire-to-wire win, rising first from the water in 27:27, dominating the bike leg in 2:38:37, and sealing the victory with a gradual 1:28:39 run.
Her ultimate time of 4:41:48 was a full 14 minutes forward of second-placer and fellow Japanese Kimiko Uji (4:55:22). Hungary’s Krisztina Vaczi rounded out the ladies’s podium in 5:07:55.
The Japanese contingent’s dominance prolonged throughout age teams as Kimiko Uji claimed the ladies’s 40-44 title, narrowly edging out Vaczi; Kazuhiro Oishi dominated the boys’s 25–29 division in 4:38:07; Koji Muroya topped the boys’s 60–64 class (5:35:31); Masao Kikuoka clinched the 70–74 title in 6:45:25; Kazutoshi Miyokawa raced unopposed within the 75-79 class, ending in 8:25:37; Junko Nakamura received the ladies’s 45-49 title (5:53:12); Yuki Toyokawa triumphed within the 50-54 class (5:19:28); and Yasuyo Kikuoka captured the 60-64 crown (8:12:03).
Regardless of the Japanese onslaught, Cebuano triathlete Kristiane Lim made the hometown crowd proud, ruling the boys’s 35-39 class in a powerful 4:44:14 end. Lim, a well-known face within the native triathlon scene, showcased his consistency and expertise to beat a aggressive subject.
In the meantime, Khimberly Paquibot of Lapu-Lapu Metropolis added a brilliant spot for the native ladies’s contingent, topping the ladies’s 25-29 division in 5:32:16. Her win introduced hometown taste and power to the worldwide race, incomes cheers from native supporters.
In different age-group outcomes, Santiago topped the 30-34 males’s division (4:34:59), besting Puerto Princesa champion John Dedeus Alcala (4:52:59) and Jemuel Clemente (4:55:45); Dutch Rik Beugel received the 18-24 class in 4:36:59; Arthur Abogado dominated the 45-49 class (4:56:52); Eric van der Linden, additionally of the Netherlands, took the 50-54 title (4:54:50); Hajime Sato led the 55-59 group (4:58:43); Graeme Alford received the boys’s 65-69 class (5:45:36); Renee Anderson dominated the ladies’s 30-34 group (5:21:20); Michelle Boyes topped the ladies’s 55-59 (5:31:39); and Mary Mitchell claimed the 65-69 title (6:08:38).
