The 11th Asian Marathon Championships were held in Hong Kong on February 17. Altogether 144 athletes from 15 countries competed at the tournament. Four Mongolian athletes also competed at this tournament. B.Ser-Od achieved the best result for the Mongolians as he finished the tournament in second place. All the other team members: B.Bayarmagnai, D.Tserenpil and L.Otgonbayar did not get a medal, but they did well at the tournament and broke their personal records. As for Ser-Od, he is an experienced athlete who has competed at the last three world championships and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

This time at the Asian Championships he won the silver medal with a result of 42 km and 195 meters in 2:20. Abdulhak Zakaria from Bahrain was the fastest runner in the field, achieving a result of 2:11.49. Korea’s Ryo Pong Hyok, Japan’s Fukuoka Koichiro and China’s Su Wei are the other top runners in the field. The 27 year old Mongolian is now chasing for the Olympic qualifications. Soon after they ended this tournament they began training as they will compete at the international competitions in April and June.

The athletes and trainers are hoping to have an athlete at the Olympic Games. Ser-Od actually began his athletic career in 2001 under D.Gombosuren. Since that time he is doing his best at national and international competitions. He broke the Mongolian record in 2003 at the world championships which no Mongolian athlete had done in 19 years. During a recent interview with him he noted that he is very proud of what he achieved in 2003.

The UB Post

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