Former Janitor Wins First Gold Medal in Triathlon at 30th SEA Games
A former janitor in a bike shop wins the first gold medal for the Philippines at 30th SEA Games.
The Filipino athletes got all the emotional boost during the opening ceremony of the SEA Games 2019 on Saturday, November 30 at the Philippine Arena. More than 45 thousand people arrived to witness the parade of athletes and opening rites.
The story of gold medalist John Leerams Chicano seems to have been a miracle as he was the first gold medalist in the Philippines at the SEA Games 2019 in the men’s triathlon.
John Leerams Chicano, popularly known as Rambo in the triathlon community, was a promising cyclist competing in the junior ranks when he suddenly became a father in 2007. To support his son, he entered a bike shop and work as a janitor and helper with the help of his father.
The bike shop’s owner turned out to be Melvyn Fausto, coach of the national triathlon team. “First we trained him as a bike mechanic,’’ said Fausto, because he was already a cyclist, Fausto decided to turn him into a triathlete.
His coach taught him how to swim from zero. In three months, Chicano became a triathlete.
Within a year, Chicano was good enough to compete and he started to win races. In 2009, Chicano became a member of the national team according to the Inquirer.
In 2017, Chicano competed for the first time in the Southeast Asian Games and takes home a silver medal. But on December 1, 2019 Sunday, he crossed the finish line in Subic Bay’s Boardwalk and bagged a gold medal.
Chicano savored victory with his 10-year old daughter Lira, the baby who forced him to land the job that would later vault him to fame.
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