Kolkata, Dec 18: Leonard Barsoton of Kenya and Ethiopia-based Bahraini athlete Desi Jisa set new course records in the men’s and women’s elite international section en route to winning titles at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K marathon here on Sunday.
Barsoton defended his TSK 25K title in style as he bettered his own course record of 1:13.05s he had set in 2019.
Barsoton, the 2017 world cross-country silver medallist, finished with a timing of 1.12.49s.
In the mix right from the beginning but not in the lead pack, Barsoton was behind Alfred Ngeno, Abdisa Tola and Berhanu Legese. He picked up pace after the 20km mark and never looked back from there.
In the women’s elite category, Jisa saved almost a minute from the course record set by Ethiopian Guteni Shone to win the race and take home USD 7500 and an event record bonus of USD 3000.
She clocked 1:21:04s to eclipse the previous mark of 1:22:09s set two years back.
Ethiopian Berhanu Legese (1:12:54s) and Commonwealth Games marathon champion Victor Kiplangat of Uganda (1:12:56s) took the second and third places respectively in the men’s elite category, while Ethiopia’s Zeineba Yimer (1:21:18s) and Uganda’s Mercyline Chelangat (1:21:31s) won silver and bronze in the women’s section.
Interestingly, en route to their podium finish, all three elite men’s and women’s runners bettered their course records.
The elite Indian men’s crown was won by Abhishek Pal, who took home the winner’s purse of Rs 2,75,000, while Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav bagged the gold in the Indian women’s elite Indian category. (PTI)
