As Hong Kong’s triathletes prepare to suspend friendships in the name of a National Games selection fight, head coach Andrew Wright admitted on Wednesday that it was not ideal for them to be “training under one roof”.
The city team will have eight men and three women in Saturday’s Chengdu World Triathlon Cup, which is doubling as a selection race for November’s Games.
While Cade and Tallulah Wright have travelled to the mainland from Edinburgh, where they had university exams, the rest of the squad have been preparing cheek-by-jowl at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
Wright said he had not noticed relationships growing frosty, but acknowledged “there are some disadvantages” to them being in such proximity.
“Part of that is they get to see each other’s training, which can be strange,” Wright said.
“They’re teammates, so they have to get on and create a good environment, but it’s an individual sport and they have to beat each other, so that’s pretty hard.
