News Desk, News Nation 360 : Procam International is promoting the momentous 10th edition of the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata 2025, which will bring together 23,000+ runners from around the world to honour the passion of running. This amazing response, with registrations oversubscribed in all categories, adds another unforgettable chapter to the city of Joy's sporting legacy #ADecadeOfDifference. Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda's two-time Olympic and three-time World Champion, and defending women's champion Sutume Asefa Kebede will headline this year's Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata, the first World Athletics Gold Label Road Race over 25 kilometres, on Sunday, December 21. To match Kolkata's reputation for quick speeds, the organisers have announced a 25,000 US dollar incentive for any competitor who breaks the world record of 1:11:08 for the distance. The race, now in its tenth year, has a total prize purse of 142,214 US dollars, equal awards for men and women, and the top three in each elite field will earn 15,000, 10,000, and 7,000 US dollars, respectively, with an additional 5,000 US dollar event record bonus to spur rapid performances further. Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, fresh from his dramatic World Championships marathon victory in Tokyo, beating Germany's Amanal Petros by just three-hundredths of a second, will be one of Joshua Cheptegei's strongest challengers in the men's elite field at the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata 2025. For the company, he will have Ethiopia's Haymanot Alew, who just missed the podium in Kolkata in 2023 before running a sizzling 2:03:31 for third place at the 2024 Berlin Marathon, and Lesotho's Tebello Ramakongoana, runner-up at this year's Xiamen Marathon, further deepening an impressive African contingent. On the women's front, Ethiopian star Sutume Asefa Kebede-who first set the 25K world record in Berlin in 2015 and then broke it again on the streets of Kolkata in 2023-comes back seeking a historic hat-trick, but she will face stiff resistance from compatriot and 2017 Kolkata champion Degitu Azimeraw. Ugandan Olympic finalist Sarah Chelangat, recent winner of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, and Kenya's Agnes Keino will also fight hard for the podium, promising an intense battle against the Ethiopian favourites for top honours in this landmark 10th edition.

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