Barsoton, Deksisa and Bekele will be ready to heat up at IAAF accredited ‘Silver Label’ race
CALCUTTA (India): Israel’s Lonah Salpeter will be looking to win the 10,000m title at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K here on December 15.
The competition is a World Athletics Silver Label Road Race, accredited with the International Amateur Athletics Federation.
Salpeter, who will celebrate her 31st birthday three days before the race, is the reigning European 10,000m champion.
However, she has gradually been changing her focus to the roads over in recent years.
Salpeter, who is currently ranked sixth in the world, won Prague Marathon in May in a stunning national record of 2:19:46.
She participated at the World Championships in September in Doha, but dropped out in the challenging conditions.
However, she recovered quickly and finished fourth at the Frankfurt Marathon last month.
Tanzania’s Failuna Matanga came third in the last two years, and she will be motivated to improve her position.
Ethiopians Debele, Guteni target top position
Ethiopia’s Birke Debele and Guteni Shone have won Riga and Sevilla Marathons this year. They should also be bidding for one of the leading positions.
Kenenisa Bekele’s course record of 1:13:48 in Kolkata two years ago is a tall order for any runner.
Kenya’s Leonard Barsoton and Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele, the latter a brother of the 2017 winner will also be in the fray.
Barsoton is a two-time world cross country silver medallist, as an U20 runner in 2013.
Bekele was a world indoor champion over 3000m in 2008, and won 10,000m bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Eritrea’s Tsegay Tuemay and Ethiopia’s Bayelign Yegsaw, will return to the city. The pair had finished second in 2017 and 2018 editions respectively.
