Runner Gopi eyes 2021 races

NEWDELHI: Marathons will resume in September but India’s best hope Thonakal Gopi is looking to next year instead. He is plotting a route to the Olympics through the Seoul road race in March.

To qualify for Tokyo, Gopi will need to clock 2:11:30, which is seven minutes less than the qualifying mark for the 2016 Olympics.

“It’s within my reach but I need a good platform, which isn’t there on the Indian domestic circuit,” said Gopi, 32. “The weather conditions have to be ideal to run under 2:12. The route has to be smooth. Above all, fitness has to be excellent,” said Gopi whose best of 2:13:39 fetched him the 11th spot in Seoul in March 2019. This year’s marathon in Seoul was cancelled because of Covid-19. The national record of 2:12 was set by Shivnath Singh in 1978.