BENGALURU: The TCS World 10K, a World Athletics Gold Label Race, has become a social fabric of the city and that was evident on its 18th iteration on Sunday evening. Over 35000 participants, across various categories, came together as a collective to embrace the challenge.
An event that has increasingly seen a world-class athletes showcase their talents, it was the turn of Rodrigue Kwizera (International men's) and Florence Niyonkuru (international women's) as they won first place. Niyonkuru, the immensely talented Rwandan touted to vie for global glory in the years to come, took the tape with the clock reading 30:45.
While Niyonkuru destroyed the leading group as she surged to the finish line, there was drama to in the men's finish. Kwizera, who was part of the minor podium placings in 2023, had vowed to come back and be champion. He lived up to that prophecy on an increasingly hot Sunday morning.
The man from Burundi, who finished seventh in the final of the 10000m at the 2023 World Championships, had been involved in a ding-dong battle for top spot with the leading pack for the first seven or so kilometres. Once he found additional energy in his legs, he used that as a platform to zoom towards the finish line. It helped that he knew he was well inside the event record when he had less than a kilometre to go.
With an enthusiastic early morning audience willing him on, he powered through to stop the clock at 27:31, almost seven seconds faster than Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir (a few hours after Kwizera's golden moment, the 2023 winner, Sabastian Sawe, became the first man in history to dip below the two hour mark in the men's marathon).
"The challenge was the heat," Kwizera said in the post-race press conference. "I have been training in Spain and it's much cooler this time of the year there. I told myself after 5K I will push. And then again in the final 1K. Yes, I wanted to go for the event record, so I am glad that I did it".
Results: International men: 1. Rodrigue Kwizera (Burundi) 0.27.31; 2. Harbert Kibet (Uganda) 0.27.39; 3. Gilbert Kipkosgei Kiprotich (Kenya) 0.27.43. International women: 1. Florence Niyonkuru (Rwanda) 0.30.45; 2. Brenda Jepchirchir (Kenya) 0.30.59; 3. Chaltu Dida Diriba (Ethiopia) 0.31.03.
Indian women: 1. Sanjivani Jadhav 0.35.01; 2. Soniya 0.35.31; 3. Bhagirathi 0.35.32. Indian Men: 1. Harmanjot Singh 0:29:13; 2. Shailesh Kushwaha 0:29:21; 3. Deepak Bhatt 0:29:52.
