Marathon: LECHE and CHUMBA lead Bahrain to double marathon glory

WUHAN (CHN) - Bahrain completed a successful athletics campaign with a marathon double as Shumi LECHE  and Eunice CHUMBA won the men's and women's individual titles.

LECHE claimed the men's gold in two hours, eight minutes and 28 seconds ahead of runner-up Alphonce SIMBU (TAN) and bronze medallist John HAKIZIMANA (RWA) who bagged their respective nations' first medals of the Games.

CHUMBA finished her first CISM competition in 2:30:10 as she led the way home in the women's race. Bahrain's two victories pushed them up to second place in the athletics medal table, equal on eight golds and 15 overall with China who retained the No.1 spot by virtue of winning five silvers to the Bahrainis' one.

"We are proud of our country. We did a very good job with the training on us, the support of our fans, of our nation and of the federation officials," CHUMBA said.

PAK Il Sim (PRK) shed tears after she crossed the finish line second in the women's race but she found some comfort with victory in the team contest alongside KIM Hye Song and KIM Hyang Ok who came fourth and eighth.

"Before the event I was really aiming for the gold for my country and for the people of DPR Korea. I was crying after the race because it was such a pity that I got the second place," said PAK. "Every member of our team is united as one and I think that is the reason why we could win a gold medal."

Poland won the men's team event in a total time of 6:43:14, more than 10 minutes faster than silver medallists DPR Korea while France took the bronze.

Poland finished third in the athletics table with seven golds and 16 medals overall, more than any other country.

(Source: Xinhua Info)