By MARK REY MONTEJO
Triathlete Kira Ellis lived up to her lofty billing as she dominated the field to rule the Junior Women crown in the 2025 Europe Triathlon Cup in Riga, Latvia over the weekend.
Despite being the lone Filipina and Asian in the class, Ellis, 18, impressed after clocking one hour, five minutes, and seven seconds in the 750m-swim, 22km-bike, and 5.1km-run event to outshine 15 other foreign rivals.
The Southeast Asian Games mixed team relay champion completed her triumphant quest with posted times of 12:09, 34:27 and 17:36 minutes in the swim, bike, and run events, respectively.
It was a remarkable win for Ellis after being sidelined for 6 months after she suffered a shin splint (medial tibial stress syndrome).
The feat just added to Ellis’ trophy collection that includes gold medal wins in 2024 Asia Triathlon Junior Cup in Malaysia and in 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia.
The Queens University of Charlotte freshman is expected to banner the Filipino triathletes in the coming SEA Games in Thailand this December.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s Luca Vanderbruggen (1:05:17) and Germany’s Walter Sarah (1:05:22) settled for bronze and silver honors.
