PTI
MUMBAI
India's Gopi T and Kheta Ram qualified for the Rio Olympics by finishing second and third, respectively, among the Indian runners in the Mumbai Marathon.
Nitendra Singh Rawat, meanwhile, set a new Mumbai Marathon course record of 2:15:48 hours by an Indian. He had earlier qualified for the Games, having broken the previous course record of 2:16.59 hours set by Ram Singh Yadav in 2012. Gopi took 2:16:15 hours, while Ram ended in 2:17:23 hours.
The cut-off mark to qualify for Marathon in Olympics is two hours and 19 minutes for men.
In-form Rawat came up with an impressive show as he finished 10th in overall men's 42.195 km marathon. He had also won the 2015 Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. Gopi ended at 11th position overall and Ram finished 15th.
Among Indian women, Sudha Singh, who came third in 2015 Mumbai Marathon with a timing of 2:42:11, came up with a dominating show this time to grab the top spot in the race and clock a better timing of 2:39:28. Sudha finished seventh overall.
Long distance runner Lalita Babar, who held the second spot in last year's Mumbai Marathon, came second this year also with a timing of 2:41:55. She finished 10th overall. In the third position was O P Jaisa, who is the current marathon national record holder (2:37:29) -- a feat she achieved here last year. She came third with a timing of 2:43:26. All three of them have already qualified for the Olympics.
In the half Marathon, Deepak Bapu Kumbhar (1:06:01) topped, while Belliappa AB (1:06:37 hour) and Indrajeet Patel (1:06:59) finished second and third. Monika Raut (1:17:20) came first, followed by Manisha Salunkhe (1:19:17). The third position was held by Monika Athare (1:20:08) in the women's category of half Marathon.
