Led by Amar Singh Devanda, the Indian ultra runners stole the show in the International Association of Ultra Runners (IAU) 24H Asia and Oceania Championships, winning the Men's Individual and Team titles at the Kanteerava Stadium here on Sunday.
The Indian men's team clocked a combined total of 739.959 km over the scheduled 24 hours, starting from 8 am on Saturday, to comfortably clinch the gold medal after finishing the race on Sunday.
Amar Singh managed a personal best of 258.418 km, which was over 18 kilometres more than his previous best, to outshine the field. He was followed home by Saurav Kumar Ranjan (242.564) and Geeno Antony (238.977), to make it a clean sweep for India in the Individual Championships.
Australia (628.405) and Chinese Taipei (563.591) clinched the second and third positions in the Team competition.On a pleasant day, with light drizzles making stray appearances, the Indian women's team put up a strong performance to secure the second position. Together, they ran an impressive 570.70 km, threatening the eventual winners all through the day.
Australia, however, clinched the first position with 607.63 km. Chinese Taipei took the third position with 529.082. Taipei's Kuan Ju Lin (216.877 km) took the first position in the women's individual while Australia's Cassie Cohen (214.990) and Allicia Heron (211.442) grabbed the other two places on the podium.
Race Director, Nagaraj Adiga of NEB Sports, the organisers, expressed his delight at the success of the Championships. "This is the first time that India hosted an IAU Championship of this scale. I thank everybody for making it a huge success," he said.
Results
Team:
Men: 1. India (739.959 km); 2. Australia (628.405); 3. Chinese Taipei (563.591)
Women: 1. Australia (607.630 km); 2. India (570.700); 3. Chinese Taipei (529.082)
Individual
Men: 1. Amar Singh Devanda (258.418 km); 2. Saurav Ranjan (242.564); 3. Geeno Antony (238.977)
Women: 1. Kuan Ju Lin (216.877 km); 2. Cassie Cohen (214.990); 3. Alicia Heron (211.442)
Open
Elite Women: 1. Joanna Zakrzweski (Poland, 199.20)
Open Women: 1. Trupti Chavan (India 134.90)
Open
Elite Men: 1. Tomasz Pawlowski (Poland, 222.00)
Open Men: 1. Sikandar Lamba (India 202.36); 2. Sandel Nipane (190.53).