Gopi Thonakal wins elite men's race in New Delhi marathon but fails to secure Paris Olympics quota

New Delhi: Former Asian champion Gopi Thonakal won the New Delhi Marathon title but missed out the Paris Olympics qualifying time by a big margin here on Sunday. The 35-year-old Gopi, who had clinched the Asian marathon title in 2017, won the men’s elite race covering the distance of 42.195km in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 40 seconds, well outside the Paris Games qualifying time of 2:08:10.

Gopi, who had also won the title here in the 2017 edition, was below his personal best of 2:13:39. His timing was also below the national record of 2:12:00 which has been standing in the name of Shivnath Singh since 1978.

Srinu Bugatha, who won the 2021 edition title, finished second in 2:14:41, while Akshay Saini was third with a time of 2:15:27.

Gopi had earlier admitted that the Paris Olympics qualifying time could be beyond the reach of the Indians.

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Ashwini Madan Jadhav won the women’s elite race, clocking 2:52:25, while Thakor Nirmaben Bharatjee (2:55:47) and Divyanka Chaudhary (2:57:06) were second and third respectively. The New Delhi Marathon, which was held under the aegis of the Athletics Federation of India, saw thousands of participants from more than 200 cities, 27 states and several countries in different categories.

The course passed some of the city’s iconic landmarks such as Humayun’s Tomb, Lodhi Garden and Khan Market.