Joshua Cheptegei emerges the winner in a keenly contested battle for men’s TCS World 10K Bengaluru crown

Uganda’s 10,000m and 5,000m World record holder Joshua Cheptegei crossed the finish line in 27:53 seconds to win the overall men’s title at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2025 on Sunday.

Unlike the women where another Ugandan, Sarah Chelangat dominated from the two kilometres mark to the end, the men’s runners engaged in a keen battle.

In the first phase of the race, a group of a dozen runners ran together. Midway, the lead bunch reduced to six as Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay led the runners at 14:01.

With their mark at 5K seeming slower, they did not show any trend to break the event record. The men had only the ambition of winning left in their minds. With that mindset, they exchanged the lead among themselves in the next few kilometres.

Five men, including Joshua, crossed the 8K mark together in 22:35 with Kenya’s Vincent Nyamongo lagging six seconds behind.

With the finish fast approaching, Joshua increased his tempo, as did Eritrean teenager Saymon Tesfagiorgis Amanuel.

The 17-year-old Saymon has already clocked the Eritrean best in 10K (27:10) while finishing second at Lille, just last month.

Realising the threat from the youth, Joshua ran all-out in the waning stages to finish first in 27:53. Saymon took the second spot two seconds later (27:55). At the same time, Kenyan Vincent Lagat sprinted to third position in 28:02, and Geay finished fourth at 28:03.

‘Coming in as the favourite also puts a lot of pressure, especially when you have a lot of experience. If you look at my personal best, I am the fastest on the track, but that was a long time ago. When you look at guys like Vincent, Gabriel and young boys like Saymon, it’s a tough competition.

‘Besides running for the time you have to run for the position’, Johua revealed after the race.

‘I’ve noticed the young boys were very aggressive in the race today. This is world-class running. My advice to younger runners is, Patience pays; it may be painful, but it always pays’, he added.

The 17-year-old who ran his fourth international race, said, ‘It was a big privilege for me to run with Joshua. It was a very challenging to race with someone like him.’