New Delhi Marathon 2024: Gopi T wins men’s elite race; Ashwin Madan Jadhav bags women’s title
Srinu Bugatha came second in the men’s race with a new personal best timing. None, however, managed to meet the qualifying standards for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Athletics
India’s Thonakal Gopi and Ashwin Madan Jadhav won the men’s and women’s races, respectively, at the New Delhi Marathon 2024 on Sunday.
Gopi T clocked 2:14:40 to win the gold medal in the men’s event, pipping Srinu Bugatha, who clocked a new personal best of 2:14:41 to finish second. Akshay Saini finished his run in 2:15:27 for third place.
The men’s race concluded on an enthralling note with Gopi T, the 2017 Asian marathon champion, sprinting past Srinu Bugatha in the final stages to eke out a narrow win. Gopi, however, was under his personal best of 2:13:39, achieved at the 2019 Seoul Marathon.
Interestingly, Bugatha had beaten Gopi to the gold in the Indian men’s elite race at the Mumbai Marathon earlier this year.
Both Gopi and Bugatha are former winners of the New Delhi Marathon. While Gopi claimed the 2017 title, Bugatha was the champion in 2021. This was the ninth edition of the New Delhi Marathon.
The women’s race, meanwhile, saw a one-sided affair with Ashwin Madan Jadhav (2:52:25) finishing ahead of Thakor Nirmaben Bharatjee (2:55:47) and Divyanka Chaudhary (2:57:06).
None of the Indian marathoners, however, came close to achieving the qualifying standards for the Paris 2024 Olympics marathon events.
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.
India’s men’s marathon national record is 2:12:00, set by Shivnath Singh in Jalandhar in 1978, and the women’s NR of 2:34:43 has been with OP Jaisha since 2015.
A total of 80 athletes can compete in each of the men’s and women’s marathon events at the Paris Olympics. Of these 66 can qualify via the entry standard, while the remaining 14 can make the cut through the world rankings route. The qualification window ends on May 5.
New Delhi Marathon 2024 winners
Elite men
- Gopi T - 2:14:40
- Srinu Bugatha - 2:14:41
- Akshay Saini - 2:15:27
Elite women
- Ashwin Madan Jadhav - 2:52:25
- Thakor Nirmaben Bharatjee - 2:55:47
- Divyanka Chaudhary - 2:57:06
