Kathmandu. Gopichand Parki of the Armed Police Force (APF) has won gold in the sixth Nepalgunj Marathon. The win has also provided him the opportunity to take part in the Tokyo Olympics being held next year in Japan. Nepalgunj Marathon is the last selection competition in athletics for the Tokyo Olympics, according to Nepal Olympics Committee.

Parki completed the race in 2 hr 18 min and 59 sec to hold the first position in the competition. He is also the gold medalist of the 13th SAG men’s marathon. The former winner of the Nepalgunj Marathon, Krishna Basnet of the Nepali Army, had to be content with the second position. He covered the distance in 2 hr 20 min 49 sec. Khagendra Bhat, also belonging to the Nepali Army, became third. The gold, silver and bronze medalists received cash prize of 75 thousand, 30 thousand and 10 thousand rupees respectively

Pushpa Bhandari of APF won the gold in women’s half marathon. In the competition organized on Saturday morning, she completed the race in 1 hr 26 min 54 sec. Bhandari is the silver medalist in this category in SAG. The silver in Nepalgunj was won by Manju Rawat of Jumla, Karnali Province,  clocking at 1 hr 30 min 7 sec and the bronze was received by Sharmila Gharti of Lumbini Province who covered the distance in 1 hr 38 min 14 sec. The top three athletes also received cash prize of 30 thousand, 15 thousand and 10 thousand rupees respectively.