MANILA – An unexpected problem prevented Ariana Dormitorio from claiming her third consecutive overall Women Elite Olympic Cross Country title in the 2018 Asia Mountainbike Series.
The Iloilo City native suffered a mechanical trouble that barred her from achieving a record feat in the final leg of the yearlong competition on Sunday in Sabah, Malaysia.
Dormitorio, who also participated during the 2018 Asian Games, could have become the first-ever rider to capture the overall championship in the Asia Mountainbike Series for three straight years.
“It was really unfortunate but we could not avoid those things,” said Dormitorio, who was unable to participate in some legs of the Asian Mountainbike Series due to her training camp in Switzerland.
She might not be able to participate in next year’s edition of the Asian Mountainbike Series as she focuses on her bid to qualify in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, aside from participating in the World Cup, her father-mentor Donjie said.
“Yana has received the invitation for a longer training at the UCI World training center in Aigle, Switzerland,” Donjie said. “The training from March until October will also include participation in the World Cup Series and the World Championships.”
“Her participation in the Asia MTB Series will be limited since she will focus only in the biggest events, like the Asian Continental Championship in May in Lebanon, where the champion gets an automatic Tokyo Games berth,” he added./PN
