Advertisement
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo Olympics: triathlon false start throws racers for a loop, including Hong Kong’s Oscar Coggins – ‘something went wrong’

  • Coggins was one of the triathletes unable to start as a boat obstructed racers as they were set to dive into the water
  • The 20-year-old says is happy with his 33rd-place finish, despite the false start, and is now looking ahead to China National Games in September

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
A false start caused by a media boat brought controversy to the triathlon. Photo: Xinhua
Patrick Blennerhassett

Follow our live coverage of day three of the Tokyo Olympics here

Hong Kong triathlete Oscar Coggins, who finished 33rd at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday morning, said “something obviously went wrong” when a boat obstructed some of the competitors from jumping into the water.
Half of the competitors jumped in while half were obstructed by a media boat, and some had to be pulled back by a mini-flotilla of boats and jet skis.

“I think there was some problem with whatever system they used to start the race,” said 21-year-old Coggins, the youngest competitor in the field of 56. “There was this boat driving past trying to pan, to film the whole field from the front by getting the boat to drive in front of everyone, and that seemed normal.”

05:59

Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-long clinches Olympic gold in historic win at Tokyo Games

Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-long clinches Olympic gold in historic win at Tokyo Games

Coggins said then all of a sudden racers were told to take their marks and then the gun went off, and half of the competitors who were not obstructed by the boat, jumped in. Coggins, who was on the left side of the starting line, and a group of other competitors, didn’t jump in for fear of hitting the boat.

Advertisement