Kwizera sets record, Florence wins women’s title
New champions were crowned at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru as Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera shattered the event record to win the international elite men’s race, while Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru clinched top honours in the women’s event here on Sunday.
Thousands of runners turned up on the streets for the World Athletics Gold Label race.
The 26-year-old Kwizera clocked 27 minutes 31 seconds to better the previous course record of 27:38, set by Kenyan Nicholas Kipkorir in 2022.
This was Kwizera’s first title at the World 10K Bengaluru after he missed the top spot in a photo finish to Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe three years ago.
He had then promised to come back to take the title, and he did just that on Sunday with grit and determination.
In the international elite women’s section, 25-year-old Florence crossed the finish line in 30:45 to win her maiden title here.
Among the Indians, Sanjivani Jadhav won the women’s title, making it three in a row here, while Harmanjot Singh took the men’s crown, narrowly missing the Indian event record.
Kwizera, a 10,000m World Championships finalist in Budapest 2023, snatched the lead at the 8th kilometer mark while title contender Harbert Kibet of Uganda was still on his heels.
But from there, Kwizera never looked back and went on to win the race. It was the fifth fastest 10K time for Kwizera in his career.
The 20-year-old Kibet, who earlier this year clocked 26:39 in Spain, finished runner-up in 27:39. Kenya’s Gilbert Kipkosgei Kiprotich, running only his second international 10K, finished third in 27:43.
Kwizera earned USD 34,000, which includes the event record bonus of USD 8,000.
“I am very happy to have won the race. The challenge was the heat. I have been training in Spain and it’s much cooler this time of the year there. Today 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,” Kwizera said after winning the race.
In the women’s elite race, defending champion Sarah Chelangat of Uganda faced a stiff challenge right from the start.
Kenya’s 20-year-old Brenda Jepchirchir, who set an early world lead of 29:25 while winning at Valencia this January, was leading in the first quarter of the race.
Soon, eventual winner Florence began to assert herself but no one took her as a serious threat as she was running her maiden 10K on Sunday. However, Florence remained a leader, passing the 5K mark at 15:19, along with another half-dozen runners.
The leading bunch thinned after 7 km, with just four women still holding podium ambitions. Florence and Jepchirchir were joined by Ethiopian Melal Biratu and Kenyan Judy Chepaskwony in the fray.
Another Ethiopian, Chaltu Dida Diriba, who clocked 29:50 in Spain this year, was sixth at that time. She made a kick in the last kilometer and closed the gap to the leaders.
At one stage, Florence, who trains in Kenya, looked confident of breaching the event record.
However, she slowed down a bit in the last stages of the race, as there was no one to push her. The Rwandan went on to win in 30:45. Jepchirchir (30:59) and Diriba (31:03) filled the other two places on the podium.
“The conditions were challenging, but I focused on the competition. I missed the event record. Maybe next year I can come back for it. After the half-marathon in Berlin, I got more confident about the 10K. That race was a confidence booster for me, and it helped me today,” Florence said after the race.
Indian winners
Meanwhile, Harmanjot and Sanjivani delivered standout performances to secure top honours in the Indian men’s and women’s elite categories, respectively and prize purses of Rs 3,00,000 and Rs 2,75,000.
Harmanjot clocked 29:13 to emerge as the fastest Indian, falling just a second short of the event record, and narrowly missing out on the additional Rs 1,00,000 bonus. Karnataka’s Shailesh Kushwaha (29:21) and Deepak Bhatt (29:52) completed the podium.
“I had the event record in mind and tried to stay with the international elite pack as far as I could, which was till 5K. After that, I decided to rely on my own judgement,” Harmanjot said.
Sanjivani continued her remarkable run at the event, clinching a third consecutive title and her fifth overall, with a time of 35:01.
In an exciting contest for second place, Soniya (35:31) edged past Bhagirathi (35:32) to improve on her sixth-place finish from last year.
“My plan was to go for the event record. This is my third consecutive win here and I’m proud. I haven’t been specifically training for road races, but this is one of my favourite cities to run. I am the event record holder, so I really wanted to take part,” Sanjivani said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was among the celebrities who participated in the run.
