Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 15 (ANI): Ethiopian Sutume Kebede retained the ladies’s crown within the ninth version of Tata Steel World 25K, the primary World Athletics Gold Label Road Race at this distance, within the West Bengal capital right now.
Uganda’s Stephen Kissa triumphed over the defending champion, Daniel Ebenyo from Kenya, within the males’s race.
The Indian elite runners additionally returned with splendid performances, with Gulveer Singh setting a brand new occasion document and Sanjeevani taking the title within the girls’s class. More than 20,500 individuals participated in numerous classes, making it probably the most standard races within the nation.
Confirming her entry simply two weeks earlier than the race, Kebede recovered from a abdomen ailment simply in time to defend her title right here in a modest 1:19:17s.
Having set a stand-alone World Best for 25K right here whereas successful final yr’s race with a time of 1:18:47s, the Ethiopian runner began her marketing campaign in 2024 with a improbable private finest in half-marathon (1:04:37s) and marathon (2:15:55s) to take the highest spots in Houston and Tokyo respectively. Incidentally, her timing in Tokyo made her the eighth quickest amongst girls marathoners thus far.
Coming to Kolkata with confidence and the need to excel, Sutume began right now’s race with some preliminary challenges from Bahrain’s Desi Jisa, the winner right here in 2022, and Kenyan Viola Chpengeno, a third-place finisher in final yr’s Delhi half-marathon.
The Kenyan began fading within the waning phases of the race, thus permitting Kebede to change into a transparent chief after 23K. The Ethiopian runner’s successful time would have been higher had Chepngeno continued together with her for some extra time. However, Kebede signed off 2024 with one other successful word.
Chepngeno completed second in 1:19:44s, whereas Jisa completed a distant third at 1:21:29s.
Kebede expressed her pleasure in retaining the title and stated as quoted from a press launch, “I am very happy to win (here) again. I wanted to break the course record, but was a little tired of travelling. I am training for the next year and will participate in the marathons.”Stephen Kissa salvaged some satisfaction after logging his first win in a world competitors in 5 years. He suffered two back-to-back debacles as a non-finisher on the Olympic Games in Tokyo (10,000m) and Paris (Marathon) and took solely second spots in a few races in between. Hence, making a podium end on his debut at 25K introduced a cheerful second for the Ugandan to cherish for a very long time.
The race kicked off with a good bit of nippiness within the air and as Kolkata broke daybreak, the highest bunch of Daniel Ebenyo, Benson Kipruto, Stephen Kissa, and Haymanot Alew made previous the 10K mark at 28:42s however regarded up the ante as they had been nonetheless a number of seconds behind their expectation.
Defending champion Ebenyo regarded sturdy, remained on the helm of affairs within the males’s race, and ran neck-to-neck alongside Kissa in most components of the race.
They briefly exchanged the lead, however the hole between the duo didn’t transcend a meter or two on a regular basis. The Kenyan, who additionally set a stand-alone World Best for 25K (1:11:13s) throughout final yr’s race, was trying to enhance his time on this version.
They reached 15K in 42:56s, some 30 seconds quicker, with Ebenyo and Kissa nonetheless main the pack, because the tempo picked up alongside the tram tracks of South Kolkata. Surprisingly, Kipruto dropped off as Kissa took the lead on the 20K mark, clocking 57:50s, with Ebenyo carefully behind.
But he misplaced focus within the final two kilometres. Instead of trying on the clock, he solely centered on pulling away from the Ugandan runner. Kissa didn’t permit that to occur and held off the problem to dash out to the tape to assert the lads’s crown in 1:12:33s and pocket the USD 15,000 prize purse.
Ebenyo completed runner-up 4 seconds later, whereas Anthony Kipchirchir stunned everybody with a bronze place at 1:12:55s.
“Really I am very happy. India is a very nice country. It is my third time in India. When I was running, I thought we would make the world record. I had two options: either the first place or should I follow the first group. After the first 2 km, I saw my body responding well and so I ran with the first group. I realized that I ran well today. I thought this could be my day. At the last kilometre, I was comfortable, and I knew I could do it,” stated Stephen Kissa after successful the 25K.
Coming to the Indian racers, Gulveer Singh (26) habitually breaks the nationwide document in each distance occasion. He has improved the nationwide marks in 5000 and 10,000m twice this yr. The Guangzhou Asian Games bronze medalist, who simply eight weeks in the past grew to become the Asian cross-country champion, is now turning his focus in the direction of highway working.
Sawan Barwal, the 2023 Asian half-marathon bronze medalist, led Gulveer in a good portion of the race right now. As within the worldwide class, Gulveer broke away from Sawan and sprinted to complete first and likewise registered one other Indian Best at this distance by clocking 1:14:10. Sawan clocked an in depth 1:14:11 to cross the end line fractionally behind the chief. Gaurav Mathur completes the Indian podium in third place.
“I am in good form, and I thought we could break the course record. We practised together, and then we pushed each other. After 12 km there was some traffic, so we lost a little time and made up. I am very happy to win,” Gulveer Singh stated.
“We get a lot of support. AFI has given us a good coach from the USA. We also get to visit foreign countries. That has reduced the gap with the elite internationals. Now we are preparing for the Asian and World Championships,” he additional stated about closing in on the International elites.
Sanjivani Jadhav, standard amongst girls runners within the nation, returned to Kolkata after 2022, the place she was a prime finisher amongst Indians. Kavita Yadav aided her by initially difficult Sanjivani earlier than permitting her to run a solo race. The 28-year-old runner improved her finest by over 5 minutes, successful in 1:29:08s.
Lili Das (1:30:58s) and Kavita Yadav (1:32:19s) took the subsequent two spots among the many Indian girls.
“I am very much pleased to win here again. I practiced running a solo race. The 28-year-old runner improved her best by more than 5 minutes. I have a personal coach and this prize money is a great help. I am working very hard for the Asian Championship. I will give my best. The World Championship will have a ranking system. If we can compete outside, we can also get the rankings to participate,” Sanjivani stated after successful the race. (ANI)