Gopi Thonakal becomes first Indian to win Asian Marathon C'ship

Gopi Thonakal became the first Indian man to win the Asian Marathon Championship held at China's Dongguan, on Sunday.

Thonakal finished the race in 2 hours 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch the gold medal at the 16th edition of the event, here.

The Indian runner was trailed by Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan with a timing of 2:15:51s to grab a silver, while the bronze was won by Byambalev Tseveenravdan by clocking 2:16:14s.

Thonakal's feat has come after the formation of separate Asian Marathon championships. Prior to this, Asha Agarwal had won the women's title when it was a part of the biennial Asian Track and Field Championships.