Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata: Gulveer shatters event record, tops Indian elite

The Indian elite runners, Gulveer Singh and Sanjivani Jadhav, returned with splendid performances, taking the title in the women’s category at the ninth edition of Tata Steel World 25K on Sunday.

This was the first World Athletics Gold Label Road Race at this distance in Kolkata, West Bengal.

As they converged upon the historic Red Road, Kolkata woke up to 14 degrees Celsius and a spring in their feet. More than 20,500 people participated in various categories, making it one of the most popular races in the country.

Gulveer, Sanjeevani excel among the Indians

Gulveer Singh, who habitually breaks the national record in every distance event, is now turning his focus towards road running.

In the race, Gulveer broke away from Sawan Barwal and sprinted to finish first and also registered another Indian Best at this distance by clocking 1:14:10. Sawan clocked a close 1:14:11 to cross the finish line fractionally behind the leader. Gaurav Mathur completes the Indian podium in third place.

“I am in good form, and I thought we could break the course record. We practiced 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 said.

“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 between the elite internationals. Now we are preparing for the Asian and World Championships,” he further said about closing in on the International elites.

“Condition was better this time. We wanted to break the course record, and so we did. We are very happy to achieve this. I tried my best to win, but Gulveer was very good today,” Sawan Barwal said.

In the women's elite Indian, Sanjivani Jadhav, a popular women runner in the country, was a top finisher among Indians. Kavita Yadav aided her by initially challenging Sanjivani before allowing her to run a solo race. The 28-year-old runner improved her best by over 5 minutes, winning in 1:29:08.

Lili Das (1:30:58) and Kavita Yadav (1:32:19) took the next two spots among the Indian women.

“I am very much pleased to win here again. I practiced running a solo race. I have a personal coach and this prize money is a great help. I am working very hard for the Asian Championship. The World Championship will have a ranking system. If we can compete outside, we can also get the rankings to participate,” Sanjivani said after winning the race.

Sutume shines, Kissa upsets Ebenyo in Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata 2024

Ethiopian Sutume Kebede retained the women's crown whereas Ugandan Stephen Kissa triumphed over the defending champion, Daniel Ebenyo from Kenya, in the men’s race.

Confirming her entry just two weeks before the race, Kebede recovered from a stomach ailment just in time to defend her title here in a modest 1:19:17.

Having set a stand-alone World Best for 25K here while winning last year's race with a time of 1:18:47, the Ethiopian runner started her campaign in 2024 with a fantastic personal best in half-marathon (1:04:37) and marathon (2:15:55) to take the top spots in Houston and Tokyo respectively.

Kebede expressed her joy in retaining the title: “I am very happy to win (here) again. I wanted to break the course record, but was a little tired of traveling. I am training for the next year and will participate in the marathons”.

“I am happy to come second. It was not easy to run here. Everyone was strong today. I gave my best, and this makes me very happy,” Viola said while Jisa added, “I am happy to be on the podium. Thanks to everyone.”

Meanwhile, in the men’s race, Ugandan Stephen Kissa triumphed over the defending champion, Daniel Ebenyo from Kenya.

He suffered two back-to-back debacles as a non-finisher at the Olympic Games in Tokyo (10,000m) and Paris (Marathon) and took only second spots in a couple of races in between. Hence, making a podium finish on his debut at 25K brought a happy moment for the Ugandan to cherish for a long time.

The race kicked off with a fair bit of nippiness in the air and as Kolkata broke dawn, the top bunch of Daniel Ebenyo, Benson Kipruto, Stephen Kissa, and Haymanot Alew made past the 10K mark at 28:42 but looked up the ante as they were still a few seconds behind their expectation.

“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.” said Stephen Kissa after winning the 25K.

“Every day, a champion is born in sports. Last year, it was me. This year, it was Kissa. That is the fun of sports. I am very happy. He has flown the flag of Uganda and congratulations. I was a little tired this year as I did not recover from the Chicago Marathon. I will take a break for the festive season and spend time with my family. I felt some fatigue today, but it is sports,” Daniel said.