Kolkata, Dec 15: Ethiopian Sutume Kebede retained the women’s crown in the ninth
edition of Tata Steel World 25K, the first World Athletics Gold Label Road Race at this
distance, in the West Bengal capital today. Ugandan Stephen Kissa triumphed over the
defending champion, Daniel Ebenyo from Kenya, in the men’s race.
The Indian elite runners also returned with splendid performances, with Gulveer Singh
setting a new event record and Sanjeevani taking the title in the women’s category.
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.
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 fantastic personal best in half-marathon (1:04:37)
and marathon (2:15:55) to take the top spots in Houston and Tokyo
respectively. Incidentally, her timing in Tokyo made her the 8th fastest among women
marathoners to date.
Coming to Kolkata with confidence and the desire to excel, Sutume started today’s race
with some initial challenges from Bahrain’s Desi Jisa, the winner here in 2022, and Kenyan
Viola Chpengeno, a third-place finisher in last year’s Delhi half-marathon. The Kenyan
started fading in the waning stages of the race, thus allowing Kebede to become a clear
leader after 23K. The Ethiopian runner’s winning time would have been better had
Chepngeno continued with her for some more time. However, Kebede signed off 2024 with
another winning note.
Chepngeno finished second in 1:19:44, while Jisa finished a distant third at 1:21:29.
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 travelling. 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.
