BENGALURU, May 11: World champion and Asian Games marathon gold medallist Rose Cheliimo of Bahrain will be one of the title contenders in the TATA Consultancy Services World 10K race here on May 19.
A total of 17 gold label athletes, nine men and eight women, will be seen at the starting line for the race. Seven of the 12 international elite men have personal best timings which are below the course record of 27:44 set by Geoffrey Kamworor in 2014. Four of the 10 international elite women also have their personal best below the course record of 31:19 set by Agnes Tirop in the last edition. The Kenyan is returning to the city to defend her title.
For Tirop, her biggest competition could come from Chelimo who will be looking to surprise one and all at the event where she returns after two years. In the 2016 edition, Chelimo finished fifth but since then her career graph has taken an upward trajectory winning the 2017 Marathon World Championships and 2018 Asian Games gold in marathon. � PTI
