Gopi Thonakal becomes first Indian man to clinch gold at Asian Marathon Championship

Gopi Thonakal became the first India man to win Asian Marathon Championships after he achieved the feat in the 16th edition of the prestigious event on Sunday. Gopi clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch the gold. [caption id=“attachment_4228279” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Gopi Thonakal crosses the finish line at the 16th Asian Marathon Championship. IMahe courtesy: Twitter/@afiindia[/caption] Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan bagged the silver with a timing of 2:15:51s while Byambalev Tseveenravdan of Mongolia won bronze by clocking 2:16:14s. Gopi, thus, became the first Indian man to win the title after the formation of separate Asian Marathon Championships. Earlier, Asha Agarwal won the women’s title when it was part of the biennial Asian Track and Field Championships.