An Asian Games silver medallist and an Olympian will be at the starting blocks of eastern India’s biggest road race next Sunday.
The eighth edition of Tata Steel Kolkata 25K, partnered by The Telegraph, is scheduled for December 17.
The Indian elite athletes’ list, shared by the organisers, features long-distance runner Kartik Kumar, who bagged silver in the men’s 10,000m race at the 2022 Asian Games. By achieving this feat, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win a medal in the 10,000m event, since Gulab Chand in 1998.
He finished as the runner-up among Indians at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon this year.
He won the Indian Elite crown at the 2022 edition of the same race.
In the same year, he also finished as the runner-up among Indians at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru
Challenging Kartik will be Gopi T. The 35-year-old Olympian is the first Indian to win the Asian Marathon Championship crown in 2017 in China. The same year, he bagged the New Delhi Marathon crown. The next year in 2018, Gopi defended his crown by winning the New Delhi Marathon with an improved timing.
Asian Games Bronze-medallist Gulveer Singh, 25, who bagged a bronze in the
men’s 10,000m race at the 2022 Asian Games, will also be in contention.
“With three in-form and experienced runners in Kartik, Gopi and Gulveer, we can expect the Indian field to give tough competition to the International Elite runners,” the organisers said.
Tamsi Singh will start as a favourite for the Indian women’s honours.
She has had a successful year, having won the Indian women’s category at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2023. Challenging Tamsi will be Ekta Rawat, who finished eighth among Indian women’s elite field at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon in 2023.
The course of the TSK 25K, a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race, is carefully crafted to take in some of the city’s majestic sights — Red Road, Eden Gardens, Victoria Memorial, Park Street, Vidyasagar Setu, Prinsep Ghat and Fort Williams.
The international athletes’ list features some of the biggest names in the sport, headlined by the 10K world record-holder in the women’s category, Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw, and the two-time world championship silver medallist in the men’s category, Kenyan Daniel Simiyu Ebenyo.
The current event record in the Indian Elite Men’s category belongs to Avinash Sable with a timing of 1:15:17. L. Suriya, with a timing of 1:26:53, holds the record in the Indian Elite Women category.