Kolkata World 25K: Kissa, Kebede claim titles; Gulveer sets new course record to be best Indian runner

Kolkata World 25K: Kissa, Kebede claim titles;

Ethiopia’s champion marathoner Sutume Kebede came up with an impressive performance to retain the women’s crown in the ninth edition of Tata Steel World 25K road race here on Sunday. Ugandan Stephen Kissa outran the defending champion, Daniel Ebenyo of Kenya, to lift the title in the men’s category.

The Indian elite runners also came up with impressive performances, with Gulveer Singh setting a new course record in the men’s section and Sanjeevani Jadhav claiming the title in the women’s category, in the World Athletics Gold Label event.

The early morning chill offered the right setting for the runners as more than 20,500 people participated in various categories, raising the popularity of the race. 

Among the international runners, Kebede recovered from a stomach ailment just in time to defend her title with a timing of 1:19:17s. Although she could not better her own course record of 1:18:47s that she set here last year, Kebede was happy to retain the crown, which came after the outstanding performances in the Houston Half Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon where she finished on top earlier in the year.

Stephen Kissa made his 25K race debut in style as he maintained a steady pace with the defending champion Ebenyo for a greater part before breaking away at the 20K mark. He maintained it till the finish and touched the tape four seconds ahead of the pre-race favourite.

Gulveer Singh lit up the day for the Indians as he sprinted away from his challengers in the final stage to register the best timing of the course by clocking 1:14:10. His challenger Sawan clocked a close 1:14:11 to cross the finish line fractionally behind.

Sanjivani Jadhav, returning to the race after a gap of a year, improved her best by over five minutes to win in 1:29:08s.