Gopi’s win is worth its weight in gold

Thonakal Gopi’s historic triumph at the Asian Marathon Championship at Dongguan, China, on Sunday, is worth its weight in gold.

KOCHI: Thonakal Gopi’s historic triumph at the Asian Marathon Championship at Dongguan, China, on Sunday, is worth its weight in gold.

Gopi, a distance runner, seriously started pursuing marathon only in 2012, at the age of 24, after he was selected to the Army Sports Institute.

But the hard work the Sultan Bathery-native put in helped him catch up with the best on the continent and finally surpass them at 29. On Sunday, he won his first international marathon medal with a time of 2:15.48 and became India’s first male athlete to clinch the continental honours.

“It felt nice. I had hoped for a medal, but gold is a bonus,” Gopi told Express from China. He said it was a tough race as Uzbekistan’s Petrov Andrey was breathing down his neck. “He tried to catch up towards the end, but I held on,” said Gopi, who pipped Andrey by .03 seconds.

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