As the Ukrainian media reported, the victory was not easy for Dmytro Lebedev. According to him, the race started at 7:30, but even at that time, the temperature was almost 30 degrees. The athlete notes that the optimal temperature for a marathon is 14 degrees. However, despite the adverse weather conditions and cramps during the race, Lebedev returned to Kyiv with two medals – silver medal received in the team competition, and the gold one – by winning the individual title.
The athletes aged from 90 to 94 years old from Turkey, Germany and Sweden became the oldest participants of the championship. The German athlete managed to establish a record for the race walking in his age group.
This is not the first victory of Dmytro Lebedev. In 2009, he won the silver medal in team and individual competitions in Lahti at the world championship. And this gold at the European Championships marathon is the second one – he won the first one in 2012.
According to the athlete, he has been doing sports since childhood. Every second day he goes jogging after work. During his work trips, he does sports too and even takes his sports uniform with him. After workout, he begins to look at the world through the eyes of an optimist.
Lebedev"s biological age was defined more than ten years ago. Dmitry was 60 years old. At that time, the doctors reported that the organism of the athlete was ten years younger than his chronological age.