It took just 2 hours, nine minutes and 34 seconds for Solomon Deksisa to achieve his target of winning the gold medal in the overall men of the 2018 Mumbai marathon.
While he could not better his personal best of 2:06:22 achieved in the Rotterdam Marathon in 2016, the victory in Mumbai gave Deksisa an immense pleasure coming under difficult conditions and rough, narrow, turning and twisting streets of Mumbai. Deksisa’s compatriot Shumet Akalnaw reached the finish 16 seconds behind him at 2:10:00 while the third place went to Kenya’s Joshya Kipkorir who clocked 2:10:30.
It was a double delight for Ethiopia as the women’s title too went to them with Amane Gobena clinching the gold in 2:25:49. The winners of both overall men’s and women’s categories will return home richer by $42,000.
“I expected to win,” said an elated Deksisa with the help of his translator Getaneh Tessama who is also his coach. “This is my first win in Mumbai and will motivate me to participate in other races,” he added.
