National athletes Ercan Muslu and Meryem Erdoğan surpassed the entry standards for 2016 Rio Olympic Games at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon held in Dubai.
Ercan Muslu finished the race in the 19th place with a time of 2:17:28, well below the Olympic entry standard of 2:19:00. The 28-year-old national athlete became the 3rd Turkish athlete to surpass the Olympic entry standards in marathon after Bekir Karayel and Serkan Kaya.
Meryem Erdoğan took the 16th place with her timing of 2:38:46 in Elite Women’s. Erdoğan, who had finished the Istanbul Marathon in the 3rd place last year, surpassed the 2:45:00 Olympic entry standard in her second marathon run. Sultan Haydar and Nilay Esen Ersun from Turkey had previously won their Rio 2016 tickets in women’s marathon.
Other Turkish athlete Elif Tozlu finished the Dubai Marathon in the 20th place clocking 2:48:33.