Champ Geremew eyes a triple

Ethiopian looks to ward off his Kenyan rivals again in Elite men's competition

The 2017 edition of the TCS World 10K has all the ingredients for a great race.  You have the world record holder competing in the men’s section, while the reigning World Cross Country champion features in the women’s. But above all, the eyeballs will be fixed on Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia who will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles here on Sunday.

Road races around the world have seen a Kenya vs Ethiopia battle play out over the years. And the Bengaluru event too has seen such skirmishes playing out frequently. While the likes of Titus Mbieshei (2010), Geoffrey Kipsang (2012) and Geoffrey Kamworor (2015) led the Kenyan surge, in 2015 Geremew snapped that run.

A year later, though the Kenyans tried hard, the 25-year-old dug deep to retain his crown. And this time, the Ethiopian will be expected to do something similar at the 10th edition here.

Geremew is the favourite. Not just because he is the two-time defending champion. The 25-year-old comes into the race on the back of a win at the Yangzhou International Half Marathon in April and a second place finish at the Xiamen International Marathon in January where he clocked his personal best of two hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds. And add the familiarity he has with the course, hardly anyone would bet on another runner.

However, road races always have something more to it than meets the eye. And this time in Bengaluru, it’s the field that Geremew is up against. Lining up alongside the Ethiopian will be Kenyan Leonard Komon, Zane Robertson of New Zealand and Mule Wasihun, who miscalculated his run last year to lose out on an almost 50-metre lead to finish outside the medals.

Komon, whose 26:44 is the world record over the distance, is on a comeback trail after injuries sidelined him for the most of 2015 and 2016. At the World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda, Komon put up a decent show to finish 12th. And he thinks that he’s in a good position to push to where he was before the injuries pulled him down.

“That (injuries) was unfortunate. I was running well when I had the achilles problem,” he said. “But now I feel good. The run in Kampala was good. It helped in building my confidence and I hope to do well tomorrow.”

Other main contenders are Robertson and Wasihun. Though the Kiwi hasn’t done much this season so far, he will be eager to get into his stride soon, especially with the World Championships scheduled in August. And if Wasihun can time his run a little better this year, the Ethiopian can give his compatriot Geremew a run for his money.

But with the race scheduled to start at 8:50 am, the runners will have more than just the field to fight. “It’s really scary. It gets really hot. I hope it rains tonight and we have cool weather tomorrow morning,” Robertson said.

The elite women’s pack is not likely to encounter such problems as their race will begin 10 minutes ahead of last year’s schedule at 8:00 am. Fighting it out for the top prize will be the Kenyan trio of reigning World Cross Country champion Irene Cheptai, Gladys Chesir and Helah Kiprop. While Cheptai will be keen to continue her good form, Kiprop, a veteran of six races here and the silver medalist last year, will look to go one step ahead.