Mubarak Hassan Shami of Qatar claimed the men's marathon gold medal in 2 hours 12 minutes 44 seconds at the 15th Asian Games on Sunday.

Japanese Satoshi Osaki and Khalid Kamal Yaseen of Bahrain had to share the silver medals after both finished the 42.195-kilometer race in 2:15:36.

Shami's victory ruined South Korea's dream of winning a fifth successive marathon gold in as many Asiad. Despite faring badly in athletics in previous years, South Korean marathoners have topped the podium at every games since the 1990 edition in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2006)