Ethiopian 10K world record-holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw among women and two-time World Championship silver medallist Kenyan Daniel Simiyu Ebenyo among men will lead the international field of athletes who will be seen in action at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K here on December 17.
Yalemzerf, who holds the 10K record of 29:14 set last year, also sits second on the World all-time list over half-marathon distance with 1:03:51 set in 2021. She won a major marathon in London Marathon 2022, becoming the youngest ever female winner of the event.
Ethiopian Anchinalu Dessie and Kenya’s Betty Chepkemoi Kibet are the main challengers for Yehualaw, who made her 25K debut here. Anchinalu recorded a half-marathon personal best of 1:07:30 in Milan this year, while Kibet has a half-marathon best of 1:06:37, set in the 2021 Roma-Ostia event.
In the men’s section, Ebenyo, who won World championship silver medals at 10,000m in Budapest in August last and then the half-marathon race in Riga at the inaugural World Road Running Championships, won the Vedanta Delhi half-marathon in October and looks forward to his debut in Kolkata.
His compatriots Roncer Kipkorir Konga and Bernard Biwott, with sub-60-minute half-marathon bests, are expected to push Ebenyo. Konga took the title in Buenos Aires in August with 59:08, while Biwott posted an early world lead of 59:44 in January winning in Santa Pola, Spain.