Defending champion Sarah Chelangat and Harbert Kibet goal to make an Ugandan double by profitable the ladies’s and males’s titles respectively within the 18th version of the TCS World 10K, a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, on Sunday.
Sarah was not absolutely match when she gained the title final 12 months, however she is with none damage this time, trying to higher her 2025 profitable time of 31 minutes 7 seconds.
“I am feeling fully fit when compared to last year. I won the 2025 title despite a back injury. I recovered fast and am ready to clock a better time to retain my crown,” Sarah mentioned at the customary pre-race press convention.
The 24-year-old Sarah is a double gold medalist within the 2018 Youth Olympics and a 2024 Paris Olympics finalist within the 10,000m.
Kenyan Brenda Jepchirchir and Ethiopian Fantaye Belayneh could be the principle challengers to Sarah within the girls’s race.
Brenda had two improbable 10K wins earlier this 12 months, together with a career-best 29:25 in Valencia in January.
“Yeah, it is (10K) my favourite distance, I am training in Nakuru currently and pleased with my shape coming into the race. After this race, I want to focus on the 5K Road as well. I am not sure if I will run on track over the summer. However, I might aim for the Commonwealth Games,” mentioned Brenda.
The 25-year-old Belayneh, a 5000m World Championships finalist in Tokyo, had been specializing in the half-marathon for fairly a while. She has a 10K private better of half-hour and hopes to run sooner if the climate is nice on Sunday.
For Kibet, working is part of his each day life. He needed to haul himself with a load of books on his backpack to commute between his dwelling and the varsity, masking about 20 km on daily basis, proper from his main college, which elevated his endurance stage to that of a world-class runner.
Earlier this 12 months, Kibet gained the 10K within the Spanish city of Castellon with a improbable time of 26:39, which is sort of a minute sooner than the Bengaluru World 10K occasion file for males, which additionally makes him a sizzling favorite to seize the lads’s title this 12 months.
Kibet already represented his nation at the 2024 World U20 Championships in Lima and at final 12 months’s World Championships in Tokyo.
He is keen to make the Ugandan group as soon as once more on this 12 months’s Commonwealth Games and the LA Olympics two years from now. The younger Ugandan is all set to tackle rather more skilled runners from his neighbouring international locations in Bengaluru.
“I am in good shape and eagerly looking forward to winning the race on Sunday”, Kibet mentioned.
Rodrigue Kwizera (26) from Burundi is one other athlete to observe within the males’s race. Running over a dozen 10K races, Kwizera set nationwide information in street occasions from 5K to half-marathon. His superfast 58:16 victory within the Prague half-marathon makes him one other sturdy contender in Bengaluru.
Kwizera, the 2023 runner-up, mentioned, “My body is in very good shape. I’ve been training hard and have been waiting to come back to Bengaluru. On Sunday, I want to go for a course record.”
Ethiopian Gemechu Dida, one other 26-year-old 10K runner with a private better of 26:54, returns to Bengaluru after three years. An eighth-place finisher in 2023, Dida gained two silver medals within the 10,000m at the African Games and Championships, each held in 2024, and is a bit frightened in regards to the sizzling climate.
“I am not used to it being as hot as it is right now. But I think since we are starting early in the morning, it could be good. I am preparing for the half-marathon in Valencia. But mainly my focus is that I want to be very fast in any event,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, some celebrities, similar to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, are additionally anticipated to run the race on Sunday.
