PATRICK BREN COO is in Bangkok hoping to accomplish what he missed doing in Jakarta a week ago as he competes in the Thailand BMX Cup 2 at the Kamol Sports Park.
“I feel good about the competition right now … feeling strong and super relaxed,” said Coo, who celebrated his 21st birthday Friday familiarizing himself with the track along with PhilCycling off-road coach Frederick Farr.
The Thai race—like the Jakarta event—is a C1 race in the International Cycling Union calendar that offers qualifying points for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Coo, who took a break from Nursing school—he’s in his junior year—in the US to focus on his Paris bid, got silver behind Indonesian Gusti Bagus Saputra in the Indonesia BMX 2023 Round 1 at the Pulonas International BMX Center in Jakarta last Sunday.
Coo, the Asian juniors champion in 2019, has yet to find out who his major opponents are in Bangkok until Saturday’s team managers’ meeting. The races are set Sunday.
Coo and Daniel Caluag are hoping to qualify for the Paris Olympics with the Rio de Janeiro Olympian Caluag focused on securing his ticket to Paris at the Hangzhou 19th Asian Games in September.
Caluag, 36, won the country’s only gold medal in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and also owns an Asian Games bronze medal from Jakarta 2018 and Southeast Asian Games gold medal from Naypyidaw 2013, silver from Philippines 2019 and gold from the Singapore 2013 Asian championships.