Bekele, Kiplagat confirm for Kolkata 25k run

Kolkata: Olympic record-holder Kenenisa Bekele and Kenyan superstar long distance runner Florence Jebet Kiplagat will compete in the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K on December 17, the race promoters announced on Saturday.

It will be the first race in India for Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and 18-time world champion on the track and cross-country, and the first time he has ever raced over the distance.

Bekele’s 25km best is 1:12:47, an intermediate time when he ran in the Berlin Marathon last year, which he went on to win in 2:03:03 and go second on the all-time list for the classic distance.