The organizers of the Mumbai Marathon have declared a triple bonanza this week by inviting one of the world’s best athletes, Daniel O’Brien, as the event ambassador in the 2010 version.

Another honor being bestowed on Mumbai is the arrival of the ‘Marathon Flame’ from Greece which will come out of Europe for the first time ever.

The best of these three additions is the upgrading of 2010 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon from silver label to gold. This was decided by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the international governing body for athletics.

This was announced by Anil Singh, MD of Procam International, the promoters of the event at a news conference. He said that the Marathon flame will reach Mumbai on Saturday night via a special Air India flight.

He also said, “The flame will be borne in a four-foot long, four-pound lantern by Maria Polyzou. The ex-Marathon champion, who still holds the Greek national record, will be representing the City of Marathon in Mumbai.”

The event will begin from the date of arrival of the flame which is 17th January’ 2010. The event has got adequate limelight by its association with world class athlete O’Brien. The African-American athlete from Finland holds a gold the Olympics and is also a world-champion.

The flame will be handed over to the Mayor of Mumbai, who light the torch and pass it on to prominent sportsmen like Dhanraj Pillai, Kiran More and Viren Rasquinha among others to initiate the run.