Inoue finished the 42-kilometer race in 2 hours and 18 minutes, followed by Elabbassi with a time difference of less than 0.1 seconds and China’s Bujie Duo with a 0.2 second split. 

"The temperature during the race was very high and there was also the issue of humidity. [....] I am looking forward to the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games," Inoue said in a press conference.  

After the race, Elabbassi, who was the 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medalist in the 10,000-meter race, left the press briefing area seemingly angry on account of an alleged incident he believed to be the main cause of his loss. 

“We are disappointed, we should have won the gold, but Japan’s guy [Inoue] pushed our athlete near the finish line,” Bahrain’s marathon coach, Vulu Kilonzo, said, adding he would file a complaint. 

The full marathon event kicked off at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta at 6 a.m. with a turning point near the National Archives in West Jakarta and ending at the stadium. 

Almost an hour after the race began, the leading pack consisted of Japan’s Inoue and Hayato Sonoda, Mongolia’s Ser-od Bat-ochir, Chinese runners Duo and Guojian Dong and Bahrain’s Abdi Abdo 

In the last 12-km before the finish line, Sonoda took over the lead with 1:40:22, followed by Abdo and Inoue.

However, Sonoda backed down in the last kilometer, leaving the top position to compatriot Inoue and Elabbassi, who had been shadowing the lead group. 

The marathon marked the beginning of the Asiad’s track-and-field competitions, which consist of 48 events, comprising 24 men’s and 23 women’s events and one mixed  4x400-m relay.

Twenty-one athletes competed in the event from 13 participating countries. Indonesia saw only one runner participating, the seasoned Prayogo, who clinched a gold medal in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games marathon category. 

Prayogo of Indonesia did not finish the race. He was forced to retire in the 30th kilometer due to an issue in his right leg.

"I was trying to catch up with the lead runner, but it turned out that my capability was not at the same level yet and then I also had a problem with my leg," he said. (yan)