In an achievement nothing short of historical, Indian marathoner Man Singh claimed the gold medal at the Asian Marathon Championships 2024, with a personal best timing of 2:14:19s in Hong Kong, China on Sunday. Singh pipped China’s Huang Yongzheng, to take the title, while Kyrgyzstan’s Tiapkin Ilya finished third.
Before Sunday, Singh had a best timing of 2:16:58s, that he achieved at the Mumbai Marathon 2023. With this effort, he came tantalisingly close to breaking India’s long-standing national record in the event, that stands at 2:12:00s, set by Shivnath Singh in 1978.
Having said that, the qualification standard for the men’s marathon for Paris 2024 Olympics is 2:08:10s. In the women’s section, the qualification standard is set at 2:26:50s. Two Indian women participating at the Asian Marathon Championships were nowhere close to the mark, as Ashvini Jadhav finished eighth with a time of 2:56:42s, and Jyoti Gawate ended 11th with a time of 3:06:20s.
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