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. 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 an elite male in recent times.
