As if “Yaru Sami ivaru varu naamke duffarao”, he finished 574th in the 42 km marathon, covering 26.2 miles in 3 hours 28 minutes.
Marathons are not the same as sprints. It requires a strong body and mind. But he got attention because of three things… first his age, second he chain smoking and third he ran effectively well compared to other 926 competitors.
Moreover, this is not the first time that he has run a marathon with a cigarette. In 2018 Guangzhou Marathon and 2019 Xiamen Marathon, he is said to have smoked and emptied several packs of cigarettes.
According to other reports from China, he is not a regular chain smoker and only smokes during marathons. Not sure how true this is.
Although this action of his has attracted the attention of many people, many people are expressing their condemnation saying that this is wrong and such actions should be banned while running in the marathon.