Airtel Delhi Half Marathon: Africa set to rule the road

Defending men’s and women’s champions Guye Adola and Florence Kiplagat will be among the favourites to win the 10th edition of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday.

The roads of Delhi will witness the latest chapter of the rivalry between the Kenyans and Ethiopians for the coveted Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on Sunday.

Defending men’s and women’s champions Guye Adola and Florence Kiplagat will be among a host of top international runners out to scorch the roads here.

Ethiopia’s Adola, who only started running internationally in 2014, faces a tough challenge from compatriots Mosinet Geremew and Atsedu Tsegay and Kenya’s Jonathan Maiyo Tsegay, who won the 2013 edition. He is back with an eye on the title while Maiyo finished eighth in 2014.

Another strong contender in the men’s category is Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro. He fondly remembers his two gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games here in the 5,000m and 10,000m category. Earlier this year, he won the Great Scottish Run easily by clocking 62:18.

“I am delighted to be back at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium where I won gold medals in 2010. I am motivated by new timing records at running events and look forward to newer records in the event,” Kipsiro said.

New to ADHM this year are TCS World 10K champion Alex Korio (Kenya) and Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia), known to be one of the most consistent runners in the international circuit.

The foremost among the women athletes in the event is world record holder and champion Kiplagat. The other prominent runners include Cynthia Limo (Kenya), who won podium places at 10 out the 11 races she has run this year and Worknesh Degefa (Ethiopia). Degefa is in red hot form, coming here after clinching the 2015 Prague Half Marathon.

Asked if she will win again, Kiplagat said, “I am motivated to complete the half mara-thon in under 65 minutes and am working hard to achieve my career best feat.”

Indian athletes confident of good show Meanwhile, home runners who were training at high altitudes and colder weather in Ooty are geared up to put their best foot forward.

The Olympic qualifying trio of O.P. Jaisha, Sudha Singh, Lalita Babbar, are joined by young Suriya L., the current champion of the TCS World 10K 2015 in a record time of 34:34.

Women’s national record holder Jaisha said, “We will not compete against ourselves but look forward to putting up a competition to the international runner-s. We hope to give it our best and finish the half marathon in less than 70 minutes this year.”

In the Indian elite men’s runners, defending champion Naresh Kumar, Nitender Singh Rawat and Gopi T. are the names to look out for.