“Whether it’s understanding, relaxing, or adjusting my emotions, I’ve been able to rediscover myself and figure out what I want to do most,” Choi said.
And the 2018 Asian Games medalist, who took medley relay bronze alongside Bailee Brown, Wong Tsz-to and Law Leong-tim in Jakarta, added that she had “learned a lot more” about herself after the setback.
“My goal this year is to participate in more long distance races because I want to find a new breakthrough in training,” he said.
“I had trained in sprints for a long time, so switching between the Olympic version and the sprint version could bring something new to me as well.
“And it’s a good time to do it because there aren’t too many big events this year, but there is the National Games [next year] and Asian Games [in Nagoya in 2026] is coming, so that I can catch up little by little.”
![Oscar Coggins misses out despite coming in second to Yip Tak-long in the selection race. Photo: Facebook](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/03/3fed46e7-cd15-4906-ab29-784f023caa41_9096c017.jpg)
![Oscar Coggins misses out despite coming in second to Yip Tak-long in the selection race. Photo: Facebook](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/03/3fed46e7-cd15-4906-ab29-784f023caa41_9096c017.jpg)
Choi, who finished first in the selection race held after the city’s Triathlon World Cup last Sunday, also hinted at doing a half ironman, which is a combined distance of 70.3 miles, and reiterated her ambition to take part in Nagoya.
While Choi will join the ranks of Brown, Charlotte Hall, Cade Wright, Tallulah Wright and Pauline Courret in Sunday’s championships, Oscar Coggins is set to miss out despite being second to Yip Tak-long in the men’s selection .
It was the 24-year-old’s first race since failing to finish at last year’s Games in Hangzhou, withdrawing from the event after the Qiandao Lake swim leg.
Coggins was fastest out of the water last Sunday and enjoyed a nine-second advantage over eventual winner Yip, but eventually finished 21 seconds back in one hour and 14 seconds.
Head coach Andrew Wright revealed it was a mutual decision to leave Coggins at home because the triathlete is “not fit enough to be competitive at the moment”.
Coggins will be replaced by Lam Lok-shi, with Olympic hopeful Jason Ng Tai-long, Robin Elg, Mark Yu Shing-him, Nicholas Tsang Cheung-shing and Yip rounding out the list.
![Robin Elg wants to overtake Jason Ng and become Hong Kong’s No 1. Photo: Elson Li](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/03/f6a6343a-4fec-4a3c-a92d-734b871bb2f6_f7faca96.jpg)
![Robin Elg wants to overtake Jason Ng and become Hong Kong’s No 1. Photo: Elson Li](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/03/f6a6343a-4fec-4a3c-a92d-734b871bb2f6_f7faca96.jpg)
Ng will certainly be hoping for better luck after suffering back-to-back flats in Xiamen last November and Hong Kong last week, while Elg, who finished ninth and 10th in the last two continental sprint championships, is eyeing a personal – the best finish.
“I had a good race [at the World Cup] which exceeded expectations,” said the 22-year-old, who finished 23rd to become the city’s top performer.
“I think that throughout the year it will be better and better. Give me two years and I’ll be competing with the top guys.
“I want to be Hong Kong’s No. 1, consistently, because right now Ng is slightly better than me in running.”
Elg said he expected to “have a really good race” at the Asian Triathlon Championships in Hatsukaichi, Japan on April 21, and is aiming for a top-five finish in both events.