Gopi T wins Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon in a thrilling finish

Ashwini Jadhav clinches women’s gold with Personal Best as 19,000 take part

 Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Ms Meenakshi Lekhi, Actress Soha Ali Khan and Cricketer Irfan Pathan with the winners of the Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon on Sunday. Gopi T (gold), Srinu Bugatha (silver) and Akshay Saini (bronze) were the star finishers among Elite Men and Ashwini Jadhav (gold), Nirmaben Thakor (silver) and Divyanka Chaudhary (bronze) among Elite Women.

Khel Today Bureau 
New Delhi: In a thrilling finish to the tape, Army Sports Institute’s Gopi Thonakal pipped his teammate Srinu Bugatha to win the Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon crown here on a pleasant Sunday morning.

Gopi, who had set his eyes on the National Record (2:12) set by Shivnath Singh in 1978, finished in 2:14:40 to take the gold medal. It was just short of his own personal best (2:13:39) that he had achieved in 2022.
The pace set by Gopi helped first runner-up Srinu Bugatha (2:14:41) better his own mark of 2:14:59. Akshay Saini clinched the bronze medal in 2:15:27, making the National Marathon one of the fastest races by Elite Male in recent times.
Ashwini Jadhav wiped off four minutes from her personal best (2:56:42) on her way to the Marathon gold medal among Elite Women. She clocked an impressive 2:52:25. Nirmaben Thakor (2:55:47) and Divyanka Chaudhary (2:57.06)

Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Ms Meenakshi Lekhi, Actress Soha Ali Khan and Cricketer Irfan Pathan with the Elite Women winners in the Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon in New Delhi on Sunday. Gopi T (gold), Srinu Bugatha (silver) and Akshay Saini (bronze) were the star finishers among Elite Men.

‘The marathon was very competitive in both the Male and Female categories. The male runners tried their best to achieve the Paris Olympics but it was just beyond their reach,’ NEB Sports’ Nagraj Adiga, also the Race Director, said. ‘We all salute them for their effort,’ he added.
‘We congratulate all the winners. We also thank Delhi for coming out in full force. To see over 19,000 participants was a dream come true,’ Satish Sharma, President, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) at Apollo Tyres Ltd, said at the success of the event.

Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Ms Meenakshi Lekhi, Actress Soha Ali Khan and Cricketer Irfan Pathan with the Elite Women winners in the Apollo Tyres New Delhi Marathon in New Delhi on Sunday. Ashwini Jadhav (gold), Nirmaben Thakor (silver) and Divyanka Chaudhary (bronze) with their prizes.

‘This has been a great beginning to our collaboration with the country’s most prestigious running event, Managing Director of ASICS Rajat Khurana said. ‘Congratulations to all the winners for their spirited performance.’

Umesh took the popular 10K gold, streaking to an easy victory in 00:32:02. Sapan Panchal (00:32:50) and Abdul Rehman (00:33:00) took home the second and third prizes.
Among women, Rozi (00:37:28) was the star winner.; Riya Pandey (00:43:04) and Deepali Malhotra (00:43:44) won the silver and bronze medals.

RESULTS
 
Marathon
Elite Men: 1. Gopi Thonakal (2:14:40); 2. Srinu Bugatha (2:14:41); 3. Akshay Saini (2:15:27)
Elite Women: 1. Ashwini Madan Jadhav (2:52:25); 2. Nirmaben Bharatjee Thakor (2:55:47); 3. Divyanka Chaudhary (2:57.06)

Half-Marathon
Men: 1. Harmanjot Singh (1:03:52); 2. Kiran Matre (1:03:57); 3. Dharmender (1:04:06)
Women: 1. Tashi Ladol (1:24:34); 2. Stanzin Chondol (1:28:18); 3. Stanzin Dolkar (1:28:27)

10k
Men: 1. Umesh (00:32:02); 2. Sapan Panchal (00:32:50); 3. Abdul Rehman (00:33:00)
Women: 1. Rozi (00:37:28); Riya Pandey (00:43:04); 3. Deepali Malhotra (00:43:44)