Kenyans dominate as Kasait and Mwaniki reign supreme at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2024

In yet another resounding victory for Kenyan runners, Peter Mwaniki clinched the men’s title while Lilian Kasait bagged the women’s title in the 16th
edition of the Tata Consultancy Services World 10K Bengaluru on Sunday.

The contest between the Indian elite athletes saw a stellar performance from Kiran Matre who ran a gritty race to clinch the first position and break the event record with a timing of
29:32.

Testament to the run’s aggressive nature, all the top four runners finished ahead of the event record of 29.49 which was previously held by Suresh Kumar created in 2015.

Meanwhile, Sanjivani dominated the Indian women’s lineup to set herself up for a comfortable first-place finish.

As winners of the prestigious USD 210,000 World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, Peter Mwaniki and Lilian Kasait took home an equal prize cheque of USD 26,000 each. In the
Indian elite category, Kiran Matre and Sanjivani Jadhav bagged the grand cash purse of INR 2,75,000 each. Additionally, Kiran Matre also secured a bonus of INR 1,00,000 for
breaking the event record.

Mwaniki, who came into the race as a hot favourite, got off to a conservative start. At the 7.5km mark, he was level pegging with his Kenyan peer Hillary Chepkwony.

However, Mwaniki surged forward in the final stretch to finish comfortably with a timing of 28:15, while Hillary Chepkwony (28:33) finished behind him. Also logging a resounding
performance was 17-year-old debutant Hagos Eyob who clocked an impressive 28:39 to finish third.

The international elite women’s race took shape early in the run as the world’s secondfastest 10K runner, Emmaculate Achol looked to lead the pack from the get-go. Following
the 7.1 Km mark, Lilian Kasait seized the opportunity to power ahead of Achol, with Irene Chaptai’s event record of (30:35) in danger.

However, Lilian Kasait finished her run just short of the event record, clocking 30:56.

Meanwhile, Emmaculate Achol (31:17) and Lemlem Hailu (31:23) finished second and third respectively.

Speaking of her triumph, Lilian Kasait said, ‘It was a very aggressive race, we were fast from the beginning. Emmaculate was really pushing us all, I just tried to keep up with her.
At the 7km mark, I felt I could push myself and decided to go for it.’

Kasait, however, lamented narrowly missing the event record. She said, ‘I feel I could have broken the course record today. At the end of the race, I felt I still had a lot of energy in
me.’