Gaag, the world No. 10 triathlete and the top seed in the elite men’s event here, lived up to his billing, repeating his conquest of Sapunov–the second seed–in the recently-concluded Subit International Triathlon.
The 33-year-old Gaag, fourth placer in the Sydney Olympics, emerged from the Waterfront Beach a few seconds behind 2003 champion Sapunov but worked harder atop the bike and on the run to top the prestigious competition which also served as an Asian qualifying for the Athens Olympics.
After yielding the lead after the second lap in the running event, Sapunov just stayed behind Gaag, opting not to put up a challenge anymore to settle for first runner-up honors.
But despite the second-place finish, Sapunov gained an Olympic slot since Gaag has already been seeded in the Athens Games along with the other triathletes inside the top 39 in the world.
Gaag, who trained in Cyprus for three months for this event, clocked 1:58:30 with Sapunov, in his first competition this year, coming close in 1:58:31.
Japanese Hirokatsu Tayama, who topped the swimming event, finished third in 1:58:39.
Five other Japanese followed Tayama while Arlan Makasieb emerged the best Filipino finisher at 14th place. Other Filipino bets George Vilog, at 17th, and Nonoy Joson, at 19th, were the only two other Southeast Asian bets who made it to the Magic 20.
"I talked to Sapunov on the eve of the competition and our plan was really to win," said Gaag who is from Almateh–the former Kazakhstan capital city.
"I know that Gaag is better than me that’s why I didn’t try to catch up when he overtook me," said Sapunov, a 22-year-old Physical Education graduate who is now taking up law.