Bengaluru, 20 May, 2023: by khusnuda
The much-awaited TCS World 10K Bengaluru is not too far away now, as Sunday 21 May is knocking on the door. In its 15th year, the TCS World 10K has gained a global recognition and has been pivotal in setting off a revolution in the running community in the country.
This landmark edition will see more than 27,000 runners take part in the IT City, while another 2,000 plus athletes will be participating virtually, from various other parts of the country. And cheering on the record number of participants will be the multiple Olympic Champion Sanya Richards-Ross, who is the international event ambassador for the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race.
While the women’s World 10K race will begin at 07:10 Hrs IST, the men’s event will be flagged off at 08:00 Hrs. Meanwhile, the Open 10 K race is going to begin at 05:30 Hrs from inside the Sree Kanteerava Athletic Stadium and finish just outside the Sree Kanteerava Stadium as well.
The participants will crisscross some of the most iconic locations of the city including Vidhan Soudha, the State Library, Cubbon Park and the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to name a few before finishing off inside the Kanteerava Stadium.
The international men’s field will be led by defending champion Nicholas Kipkorir, Sebastian Sawe and Stephen Kissa, the international women’s racing roster boasts of established names such as Vicoty Chepngeno, Tsehay Gemechu and Jesca Chelangat.
The men’s course record at the TCS World 10K belongs to Nicholas Kipkorir from Kenya with a time of 27:38, while the women’s course record of 30:35 is held by Irine Cheptai of Kenya, and both are very much in danger of being shattered as the athletes are raring to go. The international athletes at the TCS World 10K will be racing for USD 26,000 purse. Additionally, if an athlete breaks the course record on Sunday, they will bag a prize of USD 8,000.
Leading the charge for the Indian women athletes will be the troika of Preenu Yadav, Priti Lamba and Kavita Yadav. Meanwhile, Murlikumar Tulsyabhai Gavit and Uttam Chand will headline the men’s event. Along with them will also be the likes of Pravin Khambal, Harmanjot Singh and Kiran Mathre, all of whom will be eyeing improvements from their timings from last season and also a spot on the podium. The Indian elite line-up which has a cash purse of INR 2,75,000 each for men’s and women’s winners with a further INR 1,00,000 course record bonus will also see Olympians in contention with in-form T Gopi and Nitendra Singh Rawat lacing up at the start-line.
With Bengaluru weather permitting, the battery of ace athletes will be eying for better times in the 2023 edition of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru run on 21 May.
