Cheptegei dishes out a tactical masterclass at TCS World 10K run in Bengaluru

Abhishek Pal and Sanjivani Jadhav showed exceptional courage to finish on top among Indians just a few days after running with top-class athletes during the Federation Cup under the scorching sun in Kochi, a qualifying competition for the upcoming Asian Championship in Korea.

Bengaluru: Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei produced a performance befitting his stature while his unheralded compatriot Sarah Chelangat stole the limelight with a sensational start-to-finish show in the women’s event as the annual running festival, the TCS 10K Bengaluru, exceeded expectations here on Sunday morning.

Coming into the International Elite men’s event as the red-hot favourite, Cheptegei, the reigning Olympic and defending three-time world champion in 10,000m, stayed ice cool in a highly tactical race before switching on the after burners over the final two kilometres to post a commanding victory.

Unlike the men’s race where Cheptegei was kept in check for a nearly 80 percent of the time, Sarah turned the Elite International women’s event into a one-horse battle as she blasted away from the flag-off and managed to maintain that intensity throughout on a muggy morning to lay her hands on the gold and stunning the pre-race favourite Cintia Chepngeno of Kenya who had to settle for silver.

Although Cheptegei boasted of a very high pedigree as compared to his rivals, the world record holder in the 5,000m and 10,000m knew the win in Garden City had to be earned. Post his Paris Olympics 10,000m triumph, the 28-year-old has slowly transitioned to marathons and road-running, which has been his complete focus this season. By his own admission, he seldom trains for 10k competitions now, eyes fixed on 42km.  

So he knew things weren’t going to be easy and he had to earn it. And it was evident as Cheptegei was kept in check by a bunch of at least nine racers till the halfway mark. Nothing separated them with only the pacemaker just ahead.

The bunch stayed intact even around the uphill section at 6km marker and maintained the same tempo even when they touched the 8km point. The stage was set for a thriller when Cheptegei decided time was ripe to switch gears. He brought all his major international experience to the fore and over the next kilometre, he killed the race completely with a blistering run to erase all his competitors from the rear view mirror.

With less than a kilometre to go, he just glanced behind to catch a glimpse of where his rivals were and with none in the vicinity he cooled down his pace before crossing the line in 27 minutes and 53 seconds. Eritrea’s 17-year-old Saymon Tesfagiorgis produced a nice final hurrah to steal silver with a timing of 27:55 while Vincent Langat (28:02) of Kenya came home third.

The win marked a memorable return to the Garden City for Cheptegei. Back in 2014 he made his international debut at this very race where he finished second and the Ugandan was delighted with his gold this time.

“I'm really very happy and excited to have come to Bangalore and win the race. I won last year in Delhi and now also I won here in Bangalore. I believe that India is really a place of achieving dreams. I believe now that the remainder of my career is going to be really superb and great again.”

The women’s race, which was the first event of the day, hardly saw the thrills of the men’s, all thanks to Sarah’s sensational run. With no pacemaker, it was all about the runner’s own calculation and Sarah had just one formula in her mind — take the lead and don’t surrender it.

Such was her pace, she opened up a healthy lead by the halfway stage. The worry though was had burned too much fuel, especially given the warm conditions, way too much early. It was not to be as she had enough in the tank, roaring home in 31:07. Favourite Cintia eventually was forced to fight for silver, warding off a charging Guteni Shanko of Ethiopia, crossing the line by just 2 seconds.

Results:

Elite men:

Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) 27:53,

Saymon Tesfagiorgis (Eritrea) 27:55,

Vincent Langat (Kenya) 28:02,

Elite women:

Sarah Chelangat (Uganda) 31:07,

Cintia Chepngeno (Kenya)  32:04,

Guteni Shanko (Ethiopia) 32:06.