Dongguan, China Nov 27, 2017: Gopi Thonakal of India became the first Indian male marathoner to win Asian Marathon Championship 2017 Dongguan title with a performance of 2:15:48. Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan pushed his limit to close gap with Gopi in the last kilometer of the race but had to settle on the silver medal position with a new personal best of 2:15:51, almost 2 minute faster than his previous best. Tseveenravdan BYAMBAJAV of Mongolia also set new personal best of 2:16:14 to win Bronze medal for Mongolia. Pak CHol of PRK Korea who was 2nd in 2015 slipped to 4th place this time with a performance of 2:16:19. YANG Dinghong of host China finished on the 5th place in 2:16:27. Gopi Thonakal, said: “The organization of the whole competition was very good and the climate here is pleasing. I really enjoy the whole race today, though the competition is tough.”
In the women’s race defending champion Kim Hye Gyong of PRK Korea made most of cool climate of Dongguan to defend her title successfully with a performance of 2:28:35. Kim lead race from front to finish and she took decisive lead after 15km mark and maintained that lead till finish. Japan’s Keiko NOGAMI, resident of Nagasaki took silver medal with a performance of 2:29:05. Jo Un Ok also from PRK Korea grabbed bronze medal with a timing of 2:30:01. Andreeva JULIIA ( 2:34:27) and Korobitskaia MARIIA ( 2:34:50)of Kyrgyzstan finished on the 4th and 5th place respectively.
Winners were awarded with cash award of $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000 USD. Overall 23 male and 17 female runners from 18 Asian Countries took part in the biannual championship. Dongguan city will again welcome Asian Marathoners in 2019 for the 17th Asian Marathon Championship.
Along with Asian Marathon Championship, Dongguan city also saw staging of Dongguan International Marathon where more than 30000 runners took part in various races, almost double to their first year event in 2016.
Dongguan City successfully ran the mega logistic operation to ensure smooth conduct of Asian Marathon championship as well as Dongguan International Marathon. More than 200 technical official and over 3200 volunteers were trained to manage route and other areas. Dongguan set up 37 medical stations manned with 475 medical staff members, 132 physicians, 800 medical volunteers and 80 emergency vehicles along the route to respond to any incident during the competition. Race started from Dongguan midtown plaza, the full marathon ended at an ecological park, the half marathon ended at the Dongguan Basketball Center and the carnival run ended at the Qifeng Park, a picturesque resort in Dongguan.
Attachment – Results book
Photo Gallery – http://athleticsasia.org/index.php/photos/photos-2?id=1983497128571809
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