China’s He Jie yesterday fulfilled a dream by clinching the Asian Games men’s marathon title, while determined Bahraini Eunice Chumba romped to the women’s gold medal.
He, who came 45th at the world championships in Budapest in August, was neck-and-neck with North Korea’s Han Il-ryong at the 40km mark of the Qiantang River Green Belt course, but he gradually ground down the 23-year-old to edge clear and power to the finish line in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 2 seconds, 25 seconds ahead.
“I told my coach that I have a dream and I will do it no matter what it takes,” He said. “All of my plans this year were centered on preparing for the Asian Games, as this competition is in China and 1.4 billion Chinese people are watching.”
Photo: AP
It has been a long season for the 24-year-old and he admitted it was tough to lift himself after the worlds in Hungary.
“I am very excited, but also relieved. I came back from Budapest for training and I was almost on the brink of collapse, but I felt strong from the moment I stood at the starting point,” he said.
China’s Yang Shaohui did just enough to earn bronze ahead of Japan’s Toshiki Sadakata.
In contrast Chumba, who won the Rotterdam marathon this year, was in a class of her own, claiming victory by nearly two minutes in 2:26.14.
“This is the first time I win a gold medal in the Asian Games, or in any championships,” the Kenya-born 30-year-old said. “All the people shouting for me, that pushed me to win it, they pushed me to the finish line. From the beginning I ran well. My training has gone well and I was confident. I was determined.”
China’s Zhang Deshun came second ahead of Kyrgyzstan’s Sardana Trofimova.
In the cycling road race, young Kazakh rider Yevgeniy Fedorov was gifted gold by decorated teammate Alexey Lutsenko as they crossed the line nearly six minutes ahead of the rest.
The pair, who ride professionally for Astana Qazaqstan alongside British great Mark Cavendish, timed their race to perfection on the challenging 207.7km course through the Chinese mountains.
“You could see that we worked together quite well in the first half of the race, taking turns in the lead, but in the end we decided that I could win a gold medal because Alexey had already won a gold medal in this race at the 2018 Asian Games,” 23-year-old Fedorov said.
Mongolia’s Jambaltsamts Sainbayar came third, 5.42 behind.
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