Ji Youngjun from Korea wins men's marathon (Asian Games)

News collated from Gulf Today and The Times of India in addition to my comments

Picture 1 - Ji Youngjun winning the men's marathon 2010

Asian Games Marathon 2010 - Let's stand up for the Champions

Picture 2 - (By courtesy of Ashley Liew). A very stable pace of sub 16min for each 5km until the 25km mark.

South Korea’s Ji Youngjun won the men’s marathon title at the Asian Games on Saturday while China’s Zhou Chunxiu defended her women’s crown.

In women's marathon, the two Chinese girls were told by the coach to take the lead at every 3km and break off by surging the pace at the 30km mark, where the leech-like tenacity North Korean runner, Kim Kum-ok, who later during the run came in third, relented to this pressure and allowed the gap to be widened between her and the Chinese girls.

Ji, in the men's marathon, finished seventh in the 2006 Asiad in Doha, by clocking 2hr 11min 11sec, with Japan’s Yukihiro Kitaoka taking silver in 2hr 12min 46sec.

Defending champion Mubarak Hassan Shami of Qatar, formerly Kenyan Richard Yatich, came in third with a time of 2hr 12min 53sec. Later on, after the race, Mubarak Hassan blamed the lack of water along the route was the main reason for his losing. Mubarak's expression during the prize giving was one of disappointment.

Picture 2 - The fruit of labour, winning of Asian Games Marathon by Ji Youngjun of South Korea.

After the 35km mark running on an undulating course, Ji suddenly broke away and was free of the pack. That strategy worked and he was leading the pack all the way till the end, from then onwards.

As for Ji, the South Korean winner, he said, “This is the third time that I’ve taken part in the Asian Games” . “I’m glad I won the gold medal. I trained very, very hard before the race, which is why I really deserve this gold medal.”