Cambodia's 100% naturalized triathlon team at SEA Games 33 is suspected of smuggling

TPO - At the 33rd SEA Games, the Cambodian Triathlon team was questioned about the eligibility of its athletes, as all 11 of them were naturalized.

Cambodian naturalized French athlete Sokha Michael Chaumond won a Silver medal in the Duathlon event at the 32nd SEA Games.

After withdrawing 8 sports, the Cambodian Sports Delegation will go to Thailand to attend the 33rd SEA Games with 150 members, competing in 13 sports. According to the Kampucheathmey website, the hope of winning gold medals lies in jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, jet skiing, teqball and e-sports. These are the sports in which Cambodia has achieved high results in continental competitions or the previous SEA Games.

According to calculations by the host country Thailand's media, Cambodia can win 7 gold medals at the 33rd SEA Games. One of the highly rated sports is the triathlon of swimming, cycling and running.

At the 32nd SEA Games held in Cambodia, the host athletes won 2 Gold medals, 1 Silver medal and finished second overall, just behind the Philippines (3 Gold medals). It is worth mentioning that among the 16 Cambodian athletes, 3 are naturalized (of French origin). The 3 medals they won all came from naturalized athletes.

Margot Garabedian, a naturalized French-born athlete from Cambodia, won two gold medals in Aquathlon and Women's Triathlon at the 32nd SEA Games.

According to information from SRPT Sport News, the Cambodian triathlon team has 11 athletes attending the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. All of them are naturalized, with 10 of French origin, one of Chinese origin and led by a French coach.

At a high-level meeting ahead of the games, Thailand Triathlon Association President Wichian Sitthinavin complained about the composition of the Cambodian team. He also said that Cambodia’s naturalized athletes were world- class, with some finishing the 10km in just 28 minutes.

After hearing the announcement, Mr. Charoen Wattanasin, Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, asked the Thai Triathlon Association to immediately contact the Asian and World Triathlon Federations to determine the eligibility of the Cambodian athletes, whether they fully meet the criteria for naturalization.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/doi-tuyen-ba-mon-phoi-hop-100-nhap-tich-cua-campuchia-du-sea-games-33-bi-nghi-ngo-nhap-lau-post1800536.tpo