Eunice Chebichii Paul Chumba: He Jie became the first Chinese athlete to win an Asian Games men’s marathon gold while Bahrain maintained its with Eunice Chebichii Paul Chumba powering to gold on Thursday.
In the events run at the Qiantang River Green Belt course, Chumba became Bahrain’s third consecutive women’s marathon winner, following the successes of Rose Chelimo (Jakarta-Palembang 2018) and Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (Guangzhou 2014).
“This is the first time I win a gold medal in the Asian Games, or in any championships. All the people are shouting for me, that pushed me to win, pushed me to the finish line,” CHUMBA said. “My competitors are really strong, and we were all pushing each other.”
Chumba finished in 2hr 26min 14sec, 1:41:00 ahead of Zhang Deshun of China in second. Sardana Trofinova of Kazakhstan took bronze.
Zhang, who was third in the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 women’s 10000m, was proud of her achievement in her new discipline.
“This medal is an affirmation for me after transitioning to running marathons,” ZHANG said.
“Since finishing in third place in 2018, I aimed to get into the top three this year or maybe win a medal of a different colour.”
China were not to be denied gold in the men’s event, however.
He Jie crossed the line first in 2:13:02, just 25 seconds ahead of Han Ilryong (PRK).
“This is a very special and important moment for me to win the marathon gold medal because I started from very humble beginnings,” He said.
“I started as a training partner and because of the increasing popularity of and increasing participation in marathon running in China, coincidentally I joined the national team, and I started training harder. I feel that I have truly come very far.”
His compatriot Yang Shaohui finished third.
India’s Man Singh finished in eighth place in 2:16058 while compatriot Belliappa Appachangada came in 12th in 2:20,52.
The marathons marked the end of the athletics programme at the Hangzhou Asian Gaasian mes. India finished the 19th Asian Games with 29 medals — 6 gold, 14 silver and 9 bronze.