Gopi Thonakal wins men's elite race; Ashwini Jadhav bags women’s title at New Delhi Marathon

NEW DELHI: India’s Gopi Thonakal and Ashwini Madan Jadhav won the men’s and women’s races, respectively, at the New Delhi Marathon here at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday.

Gopi secured the gold medal in the men's event with a timing of 2:14:40, narrowly surpassing Srinu Bugatha, who achieved a new personal best of 2:14:41 to claim the second position. Akshay Saini completed his run in 2:15:27, securing third place.

"As expected Gopi T won New Delhi Marathon today. He sprinted past Srinu Bugatha to win gold," Athletics Federation of India (AFI) wrote on X.

Both Gopi and Bugatha had earlier won the New Delhi Marathon. While Gopi claimed the 2017 title, Bugatha was the champion in 2021.

In the women’s race, meanwhile, Ashwin clocked 2:52:25 to finish on top. Thakor Nirmaben Bharatjee (2:55:47) finished second followed by Divyanka Chaudhary (2:57:06) on third place.

The New Delhi Marathon also acted as a qualifying meet for the Paris Olympics. But, none of the Indian at the event managed to achieve the qualifying standards for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The qualifying time for the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s marathon is 2:08:10 while the mark stands at 2:26:50 for women.