Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata

A competitive field, including the in-form defending champions Daniel Ebenyo and Sutume Kebede, poses a threat to event records on a flatter course and in cooler weather in the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata to be held here on Sunday.

Ebenyo and Sutume are keen to run fast and lower their own event records, 1:11.13 and 1:18:47, in men’s and women’s events respectively and claim the winner’s purse of $15,000 each apart from the record bonus of $5,000.

Apart from the return of the defending champions for the world’s richest 25K race, offering a total prize money of $142,214, the participation of Olympic bronze medallist Benson Kipruto has lifted the profile of the first World Athletics Gold Label event.

The Indian field looks competitive too due to the presence of title holder Sawan Barwal, 5000m and 10,000m National record holder Gulveer Singh, former champion Abhishek Pal in the men’s section and TCS World 10K winner Sanjivani Jadhav and Delhi half-marathon winner and local girl Lili Das in the women’s section.

The Indian winners will get ₹3 lakh each. An event record will fetch an additional ₹1 lakh.

The event records for Indians stand in the names of Olympian steeplechaser Avinash Sable (1:15:17) and L. Suriya (1:26:53) in men’s and women’s categories respectively.

Altogether 20,537 runners have registered for the event.