New Delhi: Ethiopia’s two-time 5000m world champion Muktar Edris is expected to challenge Paris Olympics 10,000m winner Joshua Cheptegai of Uganda for the top prize in the men’s elite race at the Delhi Half Marathon on October 20 here.
Fresh from his victory in the 10,000m in Paris, the 28-year-old Cheptegei is set to make his debut at the Delhi Half Marathon. He has been a three-time world champion in 10,000m and boasts a personal best of 59:21 seconds in half marathon.
He is the current world record holder for both the 5000m and 10,000m and holds the world’s best time over the 15km distance. A three-time world champion in the 10,000m, he made his international debut in India at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2014, finishing second.
Cheptegei will face formidable opposition from Ethiopia’s Edris, who will be returning to the Delhi Half Marathon after 2022. A star of the sport at the junior level, Edris finished fourth on debut in the Delhi Half Marathon in 2020 with an impressive run of 59:04 seconds.
Before that, he won two world championship titles in the 5,000m in 2017 and 2019. His half marathon personal best is better than that of Cheptegei at 58:40 seconds, which he had clocked in Valencia, Spain in 2021.
Eilish McColgan to lead women’s elite field
The women’s elite field will be led by 2022 Commonwealth Games 10000m champion Eilish McColgan of Great Britain.
McColgan holds the European record for the 10km road race and British records for multiple distances. She has also represented Great Britain in four Olympic Games (2012-2024) and Scotland in three Commonwealth Games (2014-2022).
She won the Berlin Half Marathon with a personal best time of 65:43 seconds in 2023.
Several top athletes, including Kenya’s Cynthia Limo (66:04), Ethiopia’s Yalemget Yaregal (66:27s), Tiruye Mesfin (66:31), and Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri (66:37), are joining McColgan in the women’s race.
With five women having clocked times under 67 minutes, the competition promises to be a fast-paced one.
Ethiopians Amdework Walelegn (58:53) and Yalemzerf Yehualaw (64:46) held the men’s and women’s course records in the Delhi Half Marathon since 2020.
A World Athletics Gold Label Road Race, the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, with a prize pool of USD 260,000, will be flagged off from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Ehiopia’s two-time 5000m world champion Muktar Edris is expected to challenge Paris Olympics 10,000m winner Joshua Cheptegai of Uganda for the top prize in the men’s elite race at the Delhi Half Marathon on October 20 in New Delhi. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
