Riding out the highs and lows: How marathoner Thonakal Gopi keeps going

The athlete from Kerala says his challenges have made him better

Five years ago and over 10,000 kilometres away from home, Thonakal Gopi was experiencing the greatest moment of his life. He was at the 2016 Olympics — from Sulthan Bathery (a town in Wayanad, Kerala), he had made it to Rio. He was sharing the grandest sporting stage with the best athletes in the world. It was a wild dream that came true. Gopi, who is sponsored by the sports brand Asics, is now cooped up in his room in Bengaluru, where he trains. He is uncertain about making it to the 2021 edition of the Summer Games. Events since last year have been postponed or cancelled. Gopi’s schedule is in disarray. A ticket to the upcoming Olympics, hence, is unlikely. If the participation in Rio was largely unexpected, Tokyo seemed within reach. Gopi, who is part of the Indian Army, clinched the gold medal at the Asian Marathon Championship in 2017. The following year, he topped the podium at the Tata Mumbai Marathon. In 2019, he entered the Seoul International Marathon without a coach or support staff and yet managed to clock a personal best time of two hours, 13 minutes and 39 seconds. The time was two minutes above the cut-off for the Olympics men’s marathon qualification (2:11:30s). Gopi was cautiously confident. “It will be hard, but I am going to train harder and do my very best,” he had said.