Sawe leaves Kipkorir in the dust

Throughout the week-long build up to the 15th edition of the TCS World 10K run, the spotlight was on the elite 10K men’s defending champion and course record holder Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli of Kenya.

But the 24-year-old constantly played down the task of retaining the title knowing that compatriot and good friend Sabastain Sawe would be the biggest threat in his pursuit.

Sawe was coming to Bengaluru after narrowly defeating Kipkorir to win gold in the Adizero Road to Record 10K in Herzogenaurach, Germany last month. This was after the 28-year-old Sawe had topped the podium at the Generali half marathon (21 kms) held in Berlin. The anticipation for yet another close finish between the two Kenyans was peaking at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday.

Though it did turn out to be a photo finish, a mere 11-hundredths of a second differentiating the winner and the runner-up, it was Sawe who had the last laugh again, while Kipkorir finished out of the podium at fourth.

Winning the event on his debut to make it three wins in three races this year, Sawe crossed the line in 27 minutes 58.24 seconds ahead of Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera who took silver with a timing of 27:58.35. Kenya’s Hillary Chepkwoni, making his 10K debut, took the bronze by clocking 27:59.70.

“I wasn’t sure of winning while coming into the stadium for the last stretch because my fellow runners were going strong too,” said Sawe. “But I told myself to keep pushing. I surprised myself with the kind of energy I had left in the final 500m for the victory.”

The consolation for Kipkorir will be that his course record of 27.38s remained untouched.

The elite women’s race, however, was sans the drama and was a fairly straightforward affair that saw Ethiopians dominate to claim all the top-3 positions. Race favourite, Tsehay Gemechu, led from start to finish for the gold in 31.38s ahead of Fotyen Tesfaye (31.42s) and Dera Dida (31.45s) taking home the silver and bronze respectively. Confident in her strides from the beginning, it looked like 24-year-old Gemechu had a point to prove after her 2019 debacle at the event. Leading the race coming into the stadium, she stopped after the 100m mark mistaking it to be the finish line (400m behind the actual finish) when the chasing group overtook her before she eventually finished sixth.

“I know I made a mistake in 2019. But now I have much more experience of competing. I came into the race wanting to win. It is a happy moment for me,” she expressed.

Gavit, Tamshi win title

Though the Indian runners in both the men’s and women’s elite races were left far behind by the international athletes right after the flag off, they tussled among themselves for a spot on the podium.

It was Murli Gavit who clinched the gold with a timing of 29:58.03 while Harmanjot Singh (29:59.10) claimed silver and Uttam Chand (29:59.24) won the bronze medal.

Staying behind leaders for most of the race, Gavit powered through in the home stretch for the win.

“I’m coming after competing at the Federation Cup with just two days of rest. Although this wasn’t my personal best, I am happy with the big win,” said Gavit. Among the Indian women, it was first-timer Tamshi Singh who maintained a big lead and produced a personal best of 34.12s for her maiden win. Poonam Sonune was second (34:29) and Seema finished third (34:30).